Texas Disposal Systems offers holiday-related organics processing under two major programs: (1) Christmas Tree Recycling and (2) Wreaths Across America support.
Every year TDS opens up their facilities for free Tree Recycling and holiday organic waste disposal. This includes live Christmas Trees and wreaths, as well as any left over pumpkins. Residents can visit their regional facility or the main landfill in Creedmoor to drop off their trees and organics. From there, we process the trees through chippers into high-quality, rich products like mulch or compost. These products are sold via the Garden-Ville retail centers back into the local community.
Aside from the Christmas Tree Recycling, TDS also support the Wreaths Across America efforts at the Texas State Cemetery every year.
We help by volunteering to lay wreaths at the grave markers as tradition of the ceremony. Then once the commemoration period is over, volunteers pick up the wreaths and remove the bows and tags. The wreaths are collected for processing and chipped into mulch or compost, just like the Christmas Tree Recycling.
This was my first time attending the wreath clean up event. I showed up a little before the start time, but there were already dozens of volunteers hard at work picking up wreaths. The volunteers ranged from parents with kids to boy scout troops to veteran groups, all working together.
With so many volunteers, the clean up process took less than three hours to pickup likely over 5,000 wreaths from the cemetery. I wound up doing spot checks removing bows and tags since so many people were eagerly collecting wreaths. Towards the end, volunteers with their trucks drove along the walk ways while other volunteers tossed the wreaths into the truck beds. We wrapped up the wreath collection event by filling up around five compost dumpster full of organic materials for processing!
Texas State Cemetery path lined with flags 
Volunteers unloading trucks full of wreaths 
Two of the several compost dumpsters full of wreaths
