The holidays can generate more household trash, and often you aren’t sure how to dispose of it the right way. What can you do with your Christmas tree or the string lights that have finally flickered out? The leftover food you can’t eat anymore? If Santa gave you a new computer or phone, how do you dispose of the old? Is your blue recycling container so full you can’t stuff one more shipping box or ball of crumpled gift wrap in it?

The City of Columbus offers an environmentally-friendly, one-stop solution at no cost to residents: the new Refuse Collection Waste and Reuse Convenience Center at 2100 Alum Creek Dr., Columbus 43207. 

The Convenience Center, open since November, provides Columbus residents with drive-through service to sustainably dispose of, recycle or reuse a variety of items — from food scraps for composting, to furniture and clothing in good condition for reuse, to electronics and many other materials for recycling.

In addition, the Convenience Center accepts some seasonal items. Right now, that means string lights and real Christmas trees (with lights, decorations and tinsel removed). Trees may also be set out with your yard waste for regular collection though January. Trees taller than 8 feet should be cut in sections.

See a full list of items that can, and cannot, be dropped off at the Convenience Center here. 

Hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Refuse Collection staff are there to help residents with proper sorting of items. Please note: The Convenience Center will be closed on Tuesday, Dec. 26, and Tuesday, Jan. 2.

The Convenience Center supplements Refuse Collection’s other residential services, including weekly trash and recycling and biweekly yard waste collection and scheduled bulk pickup.

Residents are increasingly interested in practicing reduce, reuse and recycle to decrease the amount of household trash being landfilled. The city’s expanding services offer convenient options to support this and to help achieve Columbus Climate Action Plan goals.

For the first time last year, Refuse Collection hosted a post-Christmas, drive-through recycling event encouraging residents to drop off old electronics and extra cardboard and gift wrap instead of tossing them in the trash. Hundreds of vehicles drove through, and more than 15 tons of materials were collected and diverted from the landfill during the one-day event.

The collection helped to shape the planning and opening of the Waste and Reuse Convenience Center. A second center is set to open at Refuse Collection’s Georgesville Road refuse transfer station in early 2024.