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Business of climate change
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Exclusive | In Hong Kong, world’s top maker of Christmas trees goes eco-friendly with recycled plastics in global production

  • Polygroup, the leading manufacturer of artificial Christmas trees in the world, sells to retailers and e-commerce companies in over 25 countries worldwide
  • The company expects to start manufacturing Christmas trees made from post-consumer recycled plastics in the next two or three years

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Elmer Cheng, CEO of Polygroup, photographed in Admiralty. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
Yujie Xue

Natural or plastic? Each holiday season, consumers have to make this difficult decision when buying a Christmas tree. This debate may have now been resolved once and for all. A Hong Kong-based company has made the choice easier by producing cheaper and more eco-friendly artificial Christmas trees.

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Polygroup, a leading manufacturer of artificial Christmas trees in the world, has an impressive list of customers ranging from big box retailers like Walmart, Home Depot, Costco and Target, to online e-commerce giant Amazon, spread across more than 25 countries worldwide.

Founded in 1989, Polygroup has expanded its business to design, produce, and manufacture a variety of seasonal decorations and toys, including above-ground swimming pools, summer inflatable toys, seasonal lighting, and air mattresses, under 17 business operations and nine brand names. But, artificial Christmas trees remain its best-selling product, accounting for 60 per cent of its sales revenues, according to Elmer Cheng, chief executive officer of Polygroup.

Artificial trees are becoming increasingly common. The US imported over 20 million artificial trees in 2022, near double the figure versus a decade ago with over 80 per cent of the trees sourced from China, according to the US Commerce Department. At the same time, the demand for natural trees has fallen over the years, according to the US Department of Agriculture, which noted that in 2017 only 15 million trees were felled, down from 20 million in 2002.

Elmer Cheng, CEO of Polygroup, photographed in Admiralty. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
Elmer Cheng, CEO of Polygroup, photographed in Admiralty. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
“The impact of both types of trees varies based on how far consumers travel to get their tree, how they dispose of their tree (for live trees, landfill, incinerate or compost), and how long consumers use their trees,” according to a summary of the study from the American Christmas Tree Association (ACTA), a non-profit industry group that represents artificial tree manufacturers.
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According to the non-profit Carbon Trust, a two-meter-tall artificial tree, usually made from petroleum-based plastic materials and metals, can produce about 40 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent, more than 10 times that of a similar-sized natural tree.

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