A number of central Virginia communities are offering Christmas tree recycling programs that reduce the impacts on local landfills.

In Albemarle County, the Parks and Recreation Department's annual program collects discarded trees, which are chipped into mulch and offered to the public at no cost.

The county says in a press release that since the program began, an average of 2,300 trees have been collected annually, yielding over 110 cubic yards of mulch each year.

The county also teams up with the city of Charlottesville, chipping trees collected through the city's curbside pick-up program.

In the Richmond area, Henrico County offers a similar program that turns the trees into mulch. And WWBT-TV reports the city of Richmond will also hold a recycling event on Jan. 6.