Holiday light recycling keeps tanglers out of the landfill
In order to keep Christmas lights from getting tangled up in machinery, Rapid City, S.D., implemented a holiday light recycling program that is now in its 10th year.
Christmas and holiday lighting that is put in the trash or recycling bin not only takes up space in the landfill but also causes delays in the work stream for Rapid City. The lights would get wrapped around the equipment and the department would have to shut everything down, go cut out the lights and then start over.
“We call them tanglers,” said Ria Hannon, solid waste education and outreach coordinator. “They are long things that get wrapped around everything.” This encouraged the department to come up with another solution.
The municipality partners with local businesses, which allow recycling bins to be put in front of their establishments solely for the disposal of holiday lights. Employees of the solid waste department collect the bins and dispose of the lights.
While it took a couple years to get the program up and running, the city and residents have been quite receptive.
In order to make things convenient for residents, there are multiple locations throughout the city to recycle lights. These include the library, local colleges, city hall and hardware stores. In general, if a resident can buy Christmas lights at a location, they will also be able to drop off old holiday lights at the same location.
“If you’re already going there, you just have to remember to bring your lights. It’s convenient,” she said. “The landfill can be out of the way for some residents, so having other locations is key.”
Hannon calls the participating local businesses each year to ensure they wish to continue participating. Solid waste department employees then drop off recycling bins. Most businesses receive 95-gallon recycling bins decorated with signage to ensure the public knows it is only for holiday lights.
City employees pick up and empty the contents of the bin once or twice a week as necessary.
“I came on board in 2021. We didn’t have as many locations then,” Hannon shared. “I wanted to figure out how to make it bigger and better.”
Another change made last year was the date the program would become available to residents. Previously, it began the weekend after Thanksgiving and would go through Jan. 31.
“We noticed we were late in the game because of lots of early decorators,” she explained.
Now the recycling opportunity is available from Nov. 1 through Jan. 31. And for those residents who do occasionally drive items to the landfill, a holiday light recycling bin has also been placed at the landfill and remains there year-round.
Another change made last year was the decision to include extension cords in the collection. Extension cords also easily tangle in the equipment and cause delays. The city saw a lot added into the collection last year.
The number of lights collected each year continues to grow. In 2021, there were 2.5 tons of lights collected. In 2022, 3.11 tons of lights were collected. Last year 3.56 tons of lights were collected and sold to the metal recycling company.
Hannon stated that there were not too many challenges initiating the program, and they have received no real negative feedback from the public. The participating businesses get excited about it each year, and some even start pulling trash cans or boxes off the shelf before the bins are delivered due to people’s interest.
“The last couple of years the guys have been able to tell they hardly see any Christmas lights coming into the landfill anymore,” Hannon emphasized. “If those guys notice, that’s huge. That’s almost four tons not going to the landfill.”
After all the lights have been collected, the city puts the huge pile up for bid to two local metal recycling businesses. Whichever company wins the bid gets the pile of lights and then melts it all down in order to get the copper inside.
To other cities thinking of a similar program, Hannon mentioned, “The great thing about it is you can easily scale it up or down, so it’s very adaptable to any size or town. As long as you can find a buyer for them – and you’re likely already recycling some sort of metal – most metal recycling companies are on board for whatever is coming their way.”
Between Nov. 1 and Jan. 31, Rapid City, S.D., has holiday light recycling bins at 15 locations throughout the city, including city hall and various local hardware stores. These bins are only for holiday lights and extension cords to keep them out of the local landfill. (Photo provided by the Rapid City, S.D., Solid Waste Department) 
Last year over 3.5 tons of lights were collected by the city and kept out of the landfills. The city collects these lights from the recycling bins once or twice a week and then sells the whole lot at the end of collection. (Photo provided by the Rapid City, S.D., Solid Waste Department) The solid waste department delivers recycling bins, typically 95 gallon, to each of the stores who agree to partner for holiday light recycling. Clear signage is put on the bin to ensure other trash or recycling does not get placed inside. (Photo provided by the Rapid City, S.D., Solid Waste Department) Aerial View of Christmas Lights in Rapid City, South Dakota at Dusk
