Londoners are being encouraged to recycle their Christmas trees rather than having them end up in a landfill.
Deputy Mayor Richard Barnes was joined by children from the Chickenshed theatre company to feed Trafalgar Square's giant tree into a chipper.
It is estimated that 976,000 trees were bought in London over the holidays.
All London boroughs are offering some form of tree recycling, with most offering home collection. Some have designated drop-off points.
Mr Barnes urged residents of the city to begin the new year on a green note by ensuring they recycle greeting cards and wrapping paper and glass bottles or jars.
The Trafalgar Square tree, a 65ft (20m) tall annual gift from the people of Norway, will be turned into compost that will in turn be used on Parliament Square's flower beds this spring.
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