E.ON backs Christmas tree recycling appeal to turn festive waste into energy

E.ON is once again supporting Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice’s Christmas tree recycling scheme, helping raise vital funds for local families while giving festive trees a second life as renewable energy at its Blackburn Meadows plant in Sheffield.

E.ON is the charity’s sustainability partner, ensuring 100% of the trees collected are recycled or repurposed, with many of the trees to help generate electricity for homes and businesses across the Sheffield City Region.

The Blackburn Meadows site forms part of E.ON’s wider work to deliver sustainable energy infrastructure in South Yorkshire, where recycled waste wood is used to generate renewable electricity and heat - enough to power up to 69,000 homes and businesses. The heat is delivered through an eight-kilometre network of underground pipes to buildings across Sheffield’s Lower Don Valley, including Ice Sheffield, the English Institute of Sport Sheffield and Utilita Arena Sheffield, providing a local source of reliable, low-carbon heating.

By giving locally collected Christmas trees a second life as renewable energy, Blackburn Meadows helps make more of the region’s resources while giving back to the community. This reflects E.ON’s wider ambition to turn clean energy into a competitive edge for UK businesses, through innovation that helps customers cut costs, decarbonise their operations and become more resilient.

Jess Dhariwal, plant manager at Blackburn Meadows, said: “Christmas tree recycling is a fantastic example of how something as simple as recycling your tree can make a real difference. At Blackburn Meadows, we turn waste wood into renewable electricity, giving material that would otherwise be discarded a valuable second life. It's great to see the local community getting behind this campaign year after year, and we're proud to support it alongside A&A Recycling, whose continued involvement helps make it possible. It's a brilliant example of local organisations working together to turn waste into something positive.”

The scheme helps generate vital income to support the end-of-life care the hospice delivers for children and young people across the region and has raised more than £70,000 in donations over the last two years.

Last year, the charity collected 1,950 trees from across South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and North Derbyshire, with more than 44 percent of the trees recycled coming from Sheffield households.

Heidi Hawkins, chief executive of Bluebell Wood, said: “We’re often asked what Bluebell Wood needs most at Christmas and, while many people naturally think of gifts and presents, what makes the biggest difference to the children and families who rely on us is the funding that enables us to provide our specialist care and support.

“That’s why we’d love more people across the region to sign up to our Christmas tree recycling programme this year. It may seem like a bit of festive fun, but in reality, it’s a vital part of our annual fundraising efforts and helps raise the monies needed to deliver specialist end-of-life care and support for children and young people.

“By registering your tree for collection and gifting us a small donation, you’ll be making a meaningful contribution to local families at a time when they need it most. It’s one of the simplest and most effective ways people can support Bluebell Wood, helping us to continue providing services that no other organisation in our area can offer.”

There is a suggested donation of £15 per collection and households have until midnight on 6 January 2027 to register, with collections taking place between 11th and 22nd January 2027.

Registration opens for the scheme on 4 November, with local residents urged to get involved.

To register your tree for collection visit www.bluebellwood.org