Trees to be recycled sit at the Penn Township road department property on Thursday.

Live Christmas trees that made houses merry and bright throughout the holiday season may be more of a fire hazard than a delight as January continues.

Butler County residents have options for how to get rid of their live Christmas trees, with many locations recycling them into mulch or wood chips.

Residents in Cranberry Township can have their trees picked up curbside on their regular trash collection pickup days, starting Monday through Jan. 19.

Large trees should be cut into 4-foot lengths and bundled together. Trees that are being recycled should have all lights, decorations and tinsel removed from them and taken out of bags.

Lorin Meeder, environmental programs coordinator for Cranberry Township, said Vogel Disposal picks up the trees as part of the Collection Connection program. Vogel also picks up yard waste in the township from April to December.

In Zelienople and Harmony, the Zelienople Lions Club picks up trees left curbside. The pickup day is scheduled for Jan. 13, according to Chad Garland of Zelienople's public works department. Discarded trees should be left out the night before pickup.

Penn Township residents can drop their trees off anytime at the township's road department building, 105 Township Lane, where they'll later be put through a chipper.

Residents can also contact their municipalities to see if there are curbside pickup programs or places where trees can be dropped off.

For those without municipal tree recycling programs, trees can also be dropped off at Seneca Landfill in Jackson Township for a small fee. Trees can be dropped during business hours, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays and 8 to 11 a.m. Saturdays.

There is a $5 fee per tree. Ask for directions at the scale house when entering the site for information on where trees are to be dropped.

A guide on how to recycle other items left over from holidays, like appliances, cardboard, batteries, cooking oil and packing peanuts, is available on the county's Recycling and Waste Management webpage: www.co.butler.pa.us/recycling

The county's annual holiday recycling guide also notes that cut trees can be used in yards to construct hedge rows as cover for birds and wildlife.

Christmas trees can be dropped off for free at Back to Nature, 840 Mercer Road, Butler. The company will pick up trees for a fee based on mileage through Jan. 31.

Butler Township provides curbside collection for township residents on their regular trash collection days for free through Jan. 31. Trees taller than 7 feet must be cut to that length.

Harrisville residents can drop off their trees for free at the borough's Wick Avenue maintenance garage through Jan. 7.