BATON ROUGE- This year's Christmas tree curbside recycling program begins Jan. 8.

The Department of Environmental Services has announced that the recycling of Christmas trees will run from Jan. 8 through Jan. 21 for all East Baton Rouge Parish residents, with the exception of Baker and Zachary.

In order to be collected, trees must be placed curbside a minimum of three feet from other garbage and unbundled trash. Officials ask that all decorations be removed from trees, and to avoid placing trees in plastic bags.

City-Parish officials are advising residents to leave trees curbside throughout this two-week timeframe as trees may be picked up on days that differ from a resident's normal collection schedule.

Residents may also drop-off trees to be recycled from Dec. 26 through Jan. 26 at the following locations:

-Independence Park, parking lot off Lobdell between tennis courts and Liberty Lagoon

-Highland Road Park, 14024 Highland Road

-Memorial Stadium, grassy lot near the corner of Scenic and Foss

-Flannery Road Park, 801 S. Flannery Road

-LSU, Skip Bertman Drive in lot across from Vet School

All trees that are clean and clear of any contaminating items will be taken to the landfill where they will be chipped and beneficially reused as alternative daily landfill cover. For more information, visit brgov.com/recycle.

****Residents in Ascension Parish can drop trees off from Dec. 28 through Jan. 12 at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales. The expo center is located at 9039 St. Landry Road.****