Recycle Your Holidays in Rochester area

New Holiday Lights Recycling Program in Rochester

With the help of The Recycling Association of Minnesota (RAM) and The Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) there is a better alternative for getting rid of your old, broken holiday light strands. This year there is a way to recycle them, rather than toss them in the trash.

Unwanted and non-working light strands are now recyclable in Rochester, just in time for the holidays. The “Recycle Your Holidays™” program is a free service sponsored by The Recycling Center of Minnesota (RAM). The program recycles every part of the light strand, even the colored light bulbs are recycled by a project partner, Green Lights Recycling.


Collection bins with the “Recycle Your Holidays™” logo are located around Rochester.
Collection locations include:
The lobby of the Olmsted County Public Works building (2112)
The Salvation Army
Ace Hardware Stores in both Byron and Rochester.
Rochester Community and Technical College (RCTC) has three drop off locations including the Heinz Center Lobby, Sports Center Complex, and the atrium of the University Center Rochester (UCR) building.

The “Recycle Your Holidays™” program will provide collection boxes through January 15th, 2010. Jobs Plus of Waseca will collect the light strands from these locations and transport them to be disassembled and properly recycled.

Please help recycle these resources and exceed the program’s goal of collecting over 50,000 pounds of holiday lights!

Sponsors include: Ace Hardware, Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs), Green Lights Recycling, Minnesota Waste Wise, Olmsted County, Recycling Association of MN (RAM), Rochester Community and Technical College (RCTC), The Salvation Army, and Jobs Plus of Waseca.