MINOT, N.D – The City of Minot will offer free dumping at the City Landfill between Dec. 22 and Jan. 5 to help Minot residents dispose of household waste that could accumulate during the holidays.

City of Minot Sanitation Superintendent Josh Kraft said residents receiving City services can dispose of trash at the landfill free of charge during the holidays by bringing a current water bill for verification. The landfill will be open on Dec. 24 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., but will be closed on Dec. 25, Dec. 26, and Jan. 1. The landfill will resume normal hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Jan. 2.

There will be no residential garbage collection on Dec. 24, Dec. 25, and Jan. 1. All other regularly scheduled collections will run as scheduled.

Much of the anticipated extra trash during the holidays will likely be wrapping paper. Kraft offered some suggestions on how to dispose of that paper.

“We suggest residents condense the wrapping paper down as much as possible before they bag it and place it into the containers,” Kraft said. “We suggest residents avoid packing the bags of paper in the bottom of the containers. By first placing bags of household trash in the bottom of the container and the bags of paper near the top, the bags of paper are less likely to become stuck.”

Kraft said that between Dec. 23 and Jan. 15, the City will provide dumpsters at two locations to help residents dispose of Christmas trees. The dumpsters will be at Site # 7 located at 16th Street SW and 16th Avenue SW (near KMOT) and at Site #3 located at 11th Street NW and 4th Avenue NW (Oak Park). If the weather allows the City’s compost collection sites to remain open that late into December, Christmas trees will not be accepted at those sites, Kraft said. Christmas trees will only be accepted at the two sites with containers designated for tree disposal.

“Residents should make sure they’ve removed all lights, decorations, bags, and stands from the trees before dropping them off,” Kraft said. “These trees are shredded for mulch, so we don’t want anything left on them that would interfere with the shredding process.”