The municipalities of Panama, San Miguelito, Colón, Arraiján, and La Chorrera, alongside MiAMBIENTE and the Urban and Domestic Cleaning Authority (AAUD), have launched a national Christmas tree collection campaign that bets on order, recycling, and environmental care. The initiative, backed by the Panama Recycling Chamber, private companies, and environmental organizations, aims to prevent bad odors, waste accumulation, and open-air burning, practices that year after year affect communities. This time, the invitation is clear: take the Christmas tree to an official collection point and give it a new use. Collection points will be open from January 7 to 11, 2026, after the Christmas season ends. In the Panama district, trees will be received at the Coastal Strip (Calidonia), Atlapa (San Francisco), USMA (Bethania), Roberto Durán Arena (Juan Díaz), Leafsinc (Multiplaza), Panamá Compost (Río Abajo), MiAMBIENTE Panama Norte (Princess Wales Plaza), MiAMBIENTE Central Headquarters in Albrook, as well as the community boards of Don Bosco and Las Cumbres. In La Chorrera, the point will be Libertador Park; in Colón, it will be Paseo Marino and the regional headquarters of MiAMBIENTE. For Arraiján, the Bulevar de Westland Mal and Parque de Brisas del Golf will be enabled; while in San Miguelito, they will be received at the Omar Torrijos Garden of Los Andes 2. Behind this logistics is a purpose: to turn a seasonal waste into a useful resource. Among the allies are Bliss, Leafsinc, Panamá Compost, GeoAzul, and Compostniendo el Planeta, along with Panama Waste Management (PMW). The Minister of the Environment, Juan Carlos Navarro, highlighted that 'when municipalities, institutions, and companies work hand in hand, a waste can become an opportunity for the country,' and emphasized that this collective effort will allow for the proper disposal of Christmas trees and continue to promote concrete environmental actions. In turn, the general administrator of the AAUD, Ovil Moreno, assured that the entity will deploy personnel, equipment, and special routes to guarantee the transfer of the trees from the collection centers. The collected Christmas trees will be processed by companies and NGOs that will transform them into compost and by-products for soil recovery and circular economy projects.
