Here’s where you can recycle your Christmas tree in Beaufort County

Christmas came and went, so now the inevitable has arrived — time to clean up, put the decorations back in storage and take down that tree.

Thanks to a three-year-old Beaufort County initiative, residents can feel good about what will become of their trees after all the lights and ornaments are stripped away.

Beaufort County's 11 convenience centers will accept Christmas trees in their yard-waste disposal bins. The trees will be converted to biofuel, according to county officials.

A local company is set to grind up the trees and burn the product to make steam for industrial purposes, or to create electricity at power plants, officials said.

The recycling program, which has been in place since 2013, allows the county gets the trees hauled away for free, and the logging company gets the raw product it needs to make biofuel.

Previously, the county would crush the trees for its Grinding of the Greens mulch program. But the program wasn’t very popular among residents, according to officials.

The towns of Hilton Head Island and Port Royal, however, will continue to offer their annual tree-mulch programs.

Hilton Head residents can drop off their Christmas trees from Dec. 27 to Jan. 30 at the Coligny Beach parking lot and the Old Gullah Flea Market at U.S. 278 and Chamberlin Drive. The drop-off site for Port Royal residents is at the Naval Heritage Park on Ribaut Road.

Curbside tree pick up will also be available for Beaufort city residents.

For locations and hours of county convenience centers, go to http://www.bcgov.net/recycle or call 843-255-2736.

This story was originally published December 27, 2017 at 1:16 PM with the headline "Here’s where you can recycle your Christmas tree in Beaufort County."