Counties across North Carolina are embarking on one of their official after-Christmas duties – disposing of hundreds of tons of Christmas trees. Here's what's happening in Wilmington.
New Hanover County has recycled Christmas trees in several different ways. Trees have been ground up to serve as mulch for park and school grounds. And trees have been anchored in lakes to serve as habitats for fish. Lynn Bestul is the Solid Waste Planner for New Hanover County. He says this year they’re contracting with American Property Experts of Wilmington to convert much of the Christmas tree mulch into biomass energy.
Lynn Bestul: "Christmas trees are just an added piece of the pie I guess you’d say, that have a great aroma when they’re being mulch. They smell great."
American Property Experts distributes biomass in the form of wood chips to manufacturing plants across southeastern North Carolina to use as fuel.