Milwaukee not collecting Christmas trees left on curb this year; DNR says it told DPW dumping trees was illegal months ago

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Milwaukee's Department of Public Works (DPW) came under fire from city officials Wednesday after they learned the department knew for more than nine months its practice of disposing Christmas trees as garbage was violating state law.

During a call with reporters Wednesday afternoon, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) said it learned about a year ago Milwaukee had been doing curbside pickup of Christmas trees as part of regular trash collection runs. That meant trees were ending up in the landfill, which violates a 30-year-old state law prohibiting the dumping of yard waste.

DNR officials said they had conversations with Milwaukee public works leaders at the start of this year. 

"We did clarify with them that holiday trees do meet the definition of yard waste, and that's in our state statutes, so this is not a new policy," Kate Strom-Hiorns, the DNR's recycling and solid waste manager, said. "That meeting was in February to talk about that."

Alds. Robert Bauman and Lamont Westmoreland told CBS 58 they heard nothing from DPW about the tree tiff until Tuesday morning, when they received a memo from the department stating it would no longer conduct curbside pickup of Christmas trees.

The department sent a press release announcing the change late Tuesday afternoon.

"No one mentioned there was a discussion nine months ago or ten months ago," Bauman said. "That was not part of the memo we received."

Baumann and Westmoreland said they were disappointed the DPW bring up the issue earlier. Bauman said asking people to drop off their cut Christmas trees at city sites is unrealistic.

"We need to hear from the department as to their plan to deal with this litter problem," Bauman said. "Because people are not gonna take them to the drop-off centers, at least not in large numbers."

DPW Spokesperson Tiffany Shepherd confirmed Wednesday the city had been collecting trees as part of garbage collection routes, adding people have always been able to compost their trees at two drop-off centers. People with artificial trees can still set those out with their garbage.

When asked about the department's past communications with the DNR, Shepherd said the DPW would address those questions Monday at an emergency meeting scheduled by the common council's public works committee, which Bauman chairs. 

The DPW's language and tone when addressing the issue has changed since Tuesday's announcement. A message posted to the city website said the DNR "revisited its longstanding interpretation that previously deemed holiday trees as a household decoration. The DNR has since clarified holiday trees are considered to be yard waste and thus subject to the state's yard waste landfill ban."

By Wednesday evening, that section of the message had changed. Instead, it read, "It was unclear whether Christmas trees were classified as yard waste or household decorations."

"That's a big difference," Bauman said after reading the two versions.

The DNR maintained none of its policies had changed; it had just learned Milwaukee was illegally dumping its collected Christmas trees.

"Yard waste takes up a lot of space in landfills, decomposes, creates landfill gas," Brad Wolbert, the DNR's waste and materials management director, said. "It settles. It creates problems in the landfill."

The DNR said municipalities can keep collecting Christmas trees curbside; they just have to compost of mulch the trees instead of dumping them. Officials in Glendale and Wauwatosa confirmed to CBS 58 Wednesday that's already what they do.

The Milwaukee DPW release noted its brush collection pauses between December and March. Bauman said if DPW officials had spoken up sooner, the city budget could've included money for a one-time collection of Christmas trees as brush.

"I think they're gonna need to do some sort of collection effort, specializing, focusing on just Christmas trees," Bauman said. "So that they can all be brought to a recycling center and ground up."

At this time, there are two drop off centers that will collect the trees -- and additional drop-off locations will be announced. All decorations must be removed. 

1. South Drop Off Center - 3879 W Lincoln Avenue
       -Open Tuesday through Saturday from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

2) North Drop Off Center -6660 N Industrial Road (must enter Industrial Road from Mill Road)
       - Open Tuesday through Saturday from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM.