Throw Out Your Mattress
Theres one more easy trick for how to dispose of a mattress: Contact your local waste management facility to find out about its curbside pickup policies for bulk items. Some companies may offer free pickup, while others will charge a fair fee.
You can also contact third party services, such as 1-800-Got-Junk?, which will give you a free online estimate for trash pickup after you input your personal information, address and the time you want your mattress to be retrieved. Of course, you also have the traditional dump option, which usually comes with a small fee.
Take The Mattress To The Tip
Tip, recycling center, dump? Whatever you call it, this waste facility can be used for mattress disposal.
Check first if your local tip deals with mattress disposal. If so, youll have to be able to fit the mattress into a car, of course, to get it to the local waste center. Mattress too big to squash in or dont have a car? You might be back to contacting your local council to arrange collection, which as we’ve said above is likely to incur a charge.
If you’ve swapped your car for a van to transport your mattress – make sure you check for vehicle height restrictions. You don’t want to get to your location only to find yourself maneuvering your mattress manually. Especially if you’ve gone alone, or if you’ve paid to rent or hire a vehicle for the day for this purpose.
To make your mattress disposal experience as pleasant as possible, avoid busy days and instead pick an off-peak time to visit. Generally speaking, this might be during office hours, but it’s best to check opening hours anyway as these vary center to center. Some may even request that you book a dedicated slot in advance.
And… Don’t forget to bring some form of identification with you. You’ll need ID to prove that you live within the borough, council, or state that you are bringing your old mattress to.
Examples of Identification that you might need:
- Proof of address
- Residents parking permit
Donate Your Used Mattress To Charity
Check with your local non-profits to see if any will be able to put the mattress to use. Depending on health department regulations in your area, organizations like The Salvation Army and Goodwill might be able to take a used mattress off your hands. Habitat for Humanity, churches, and homeless shelters can also be good places to check. Once youve secured a place that will take your old mattress, book a Dolly to bring your mattress to its new home.
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How Long Does A Memory Foam Mattress Last
Memory foam mattresses tend to perform well in our durability tests. Of the 52 memory foam, foam and latex mattresses weve reviewed, over 90% of them earned four or five stars in our lifespan test. The remaining mattresses got three stars, which is average or acceptable.
However, in the past we have uncovered memory foam mattresses that did abysmally in our durability tests.
Memory foam mattresses still need to be rotated regularly, so there’s no less maintenance than with a pocket sprung option.
Find out more about how to buy thebest memory foam mattress.
Recycling & Donating Old Mattresses And Box Springs
It is difficult and expensive to dispose of old discarded mattresses. They are hard to compact, take up a lot of space in landfills, and get caught up in the incinerator which adds up to the disposal cost. This makes recycling a mattress the better alternative.
Contrary to what many might think, there are many materials within mattresses that can commonly be recycled . Most mattress and box spring components can be disassembled and recycled easily. They are made of materials that can be used to manufacture a variety of new products.
- Foam Padding: Can be turned into carpet underlayment or animal bed padding / carpet padding
- Fabric / Fibers: Can be used in industrial oil filters and other textile applications
- Box springs: Can be recycled as metal scraps, used to make new appliances and building materials
- Wooden frames: Can be shredded to produce landscaping mulch or burned as an alternative fuel source
Additionally, if the mattress is in good condition, we can also donate it to a local charity to ensure it gets as much use as possible.
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Council Collections Book A Bulky Item Collection From Your Council
If you are a householder, instead of driving your mattress to the tip, one alternative is to book a council bulky waste collection from your home. All councils provide this service to their residents but prices and service levels vary considerably. For example, Southampton Council charges £10 for a single mattress, £20 for a double and £30 for anything bigger than a double whereas Greenwich Council charges £10.30 for any size. In general, while this service is rarely free, it is subsidised so will normally be cheaper than a private waste removal service. However, a private service will usually be able to collect your mattress a lot quicker than your council and also take a wider range of waste types at the same time.
Why Is Mattress Recycling So Important
There are two main reasons why it is important to dispose of your mattress properly.
- To Keep Mattresses out of Landfill. Mattresses take up a lot of space and can release harmful chemicals into the environment.
- To Stop Illegal Dumping which harms our communities and costs thousands of taxpayer dollars to clear up.
Worse still, many local authorities require you to wrap your mattress in a plastic mattress bag before they will pick it up! That means that not only the mattress itself but also all the plastic cover goes straight to landfill.
Needless to say, it is important to do whatever you can to stop that from happening.
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Option : Repurpose It
If you love to DIY, break down the mattress and box springs yourself. Mattresses contain a variety of useful materials including steel, polyurethane foam, memory foam, latex foam, natural fibers, wooden parts, nails, screws, and much more. You can use the materials for a variety of purposes including:
- Recycling the parts: Remove the steel parts and springs from your mattress and sell them to local scrap yards and scrap metal recyclers in your area. If your mattress includes cotton, wool, silk, polyester, or rayon, those materials can be recycled as well.
- Home projects: The foams and cotton in your old mattress can be used for several things around your home. They can be shredded and used as carpet padding, insulation, filters, seat cushions, pet bedding, pillows, and more.
- Gardening: Break down the wooden parts of your mattress and use them for gardening. When shredded, the wood works great for lawn mulch. You can also use the wooden slats to create a compost bin.
- Arts and crafts: The fabric that covers your mattress can make a great DIY rug and memory foam padding can be cut into small sizes and used as cleaning sponges. There are also screws and nails in your mattress that can be used for arts and crafts.
- : The coils and springs of your mattress can be melted down and made into various objects such as plant and candle holders, ornaments, bird feeders, and much more.
When in doubt, check out for even more ways you can repurpose your old mattress.
How To Recycle A Mattress In Rhode Island
Here are your options for recycling a mattress in the State of Rhode Island:
Mattress retailers, hotels, universities, hospitals, military facilities and other businesses that want to dispose of mattresses can also do so at no cost with the help of our Commercial Volume Program.
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Take The Mattress Apart And Get Crafty
Whats more environmentally-conscious than repurposing?
Equip yourself with the right tools, some patience, and get started.
According to zero waste thinker Antonia, you can turn the mattress into a fun DIY project. Its can be time-consuming, but if youre willing to work at it, it can also be worth it. For example, an old bed frame can become new again in numerous ways.
One way to go about this is to tear up the used mattress with a razor blade knife. Beware of sharp parts. Use protective eyewear and gloves to keep yourself safe. If you want the maximum usage potential from the materials, do your best to find and cut along the seams where the fabric was initially sewn together.
Then, let creativity take its course:
There are countless ideas. Let your imagination go to work and see what you come up with. And when you come up with something fun, take pictures and video and share it with us and the world!.
A wine rack made from old bed spring coils and wood
A bed frame
Use foam from an old mattress as padding when moving
The Fee & Where To Recycle
- The fee collected per unit in California applies to mattresses and box springs sold as of December 30, 2015. The recycling fee, as approved by the state, is $10.50.
- California residents can drop off their old mattresses and box springs at no-cost at a participating collection site or event. Unit limits vary by location and a residency restrictions may apply. We recommend contacting the location prior to drop-off.
- A $3 incentive per unit is available at select locations. It is limited to 5 units per vehicle per day. The incentive is only available for residents dropping off their household units.
- Businesses may make their own drop-off arrangements with participating recyclers or sites that accept commercial volume. Those with at least 100 units may qualify for no-cost transportation. See the Commercial Volume Program page or contact Mattress Recycling Council for details, [email protected].
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How To Recycle A Mattress In Connecticut
Here are your options for recycling a mattress in the State of Connecticut:
Mattress retailers, hotels, universities, hospitals, military facilities and other businesses that want to dispose of mattresses can also do so at no cost with the help of our Commercial Volume Program.
Return The Mattress To The Manufacturer
If youre purchasing a new mattress to replace the one you want to get rid of, ask the retailer if you can take your old one and return it to the manufacturer. With an estimated 50,000 mattresses being disposed of each day in the United States, many manufacturers are taking on the task of mattress recycling themselves.
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What About Auckland Council Inorganic Rubbish Collections
Once a year Auckland Council offers a free inorganic collection service for a limited time in each area. They will take up to 1 cubic metre per rate paying household per year. Unfortunately, many larger mattresses are already bigger than 1 cubic metre, so they will not get collected for free. You can read more about Auckland Council Inorganic Collections at our blog here.
If you dont have access to a strong helper or a vehicle to transport your mattress- you can call in a professional Auckland Council licensed waste removal company like . We assess your unwanted items based on how many cubic metres your mattress will likely take up. We have a two cubic metre minimum fee to cover transportation costs to and from your property. If your mattress has another life- we will drop it off to one of the charities we know will be able to use it again. If it cannot be re-used then we will dispose of it responsibly at the transfer station.
Give us a call if we can help send your mattress to a better place.If you are looking to buy a more sustainable mattress we strongly recommend the Sleepyhead Zero Mattress which is made from recycled materials and can be fully recycled again at the end of its life. You can see a video about that here.Junk Run
Donate It To A Local Charity Or Non
- Cost: Free to $100
- Method: You drop off , possibly they pick up
If your mattress is clean and gently used, donating it allows you to give back to society and pass it on to someone in need, and you may also be eligible to receive a charitable donation receipt in return.
Some people see this as unsanitary, but consider that when you stay at a hotel or Airbnb youre sleeping on a mattress, pillows, sheets and covers have been used by 100s, if not 1,000s of previous guests. As long as the mattress is confirmed to be clean, bug-free and still comfortable, theres no reason it cant be used by someone else.
Non-profits and charities such as:
- Thrift shops
- Transitional housing
- Religious organizations
will either use the mattress to replace one on a bed they provide, resell it at a low price to fund their operations or provide it directly to someone who is in need.
However, due to the influx of affordable beds from online-only mattress companies, quality standards have increased at many charities and shelters. Sub-par mattresses may not be accepted, even if it is still clean, comfy and in usable condition. If this is the case in your area, skip ahead to the next option.
Unfortunately, many big-name thrift stores do not accept mattresses:
Does Goodwill accept mattresses?
Goodwill does not accept mattresses.
Does Salvation Army accept mattresses?
Salvation Army does not accept mattresses
Does Habitat for Humanity accept mattresses?
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Recycle Your Old Mattress
If you cannot donate your used mattress to a charity organization, recycling it is another way to keep it from the landfill and get a second life out of its components. Many mattresses consist of at least 75% recyclable materials.
However, you can’t simply place a mattress in a curbside recycling bin. Instead, you’ll need to call upon a mattress recycling service to break down the bed into its recyclable parts for you, then donate them to the appropriate recycling centers.
Common mattress materials that are recyclable include:
- Metal coils
- Wood frames
Mattress recycling companies can repurpose these materials in various ways. For example, the wood from box springs can become mulch or animal bedding. Meanwhile, the fabrics and foams can find a second life in pillows.
Keep in mind that recycling your mattress probably won’t be free. You’ll need to pay the recycling company for the labor and time involved in breaking down your mattress. You may also need to pay to pick up your mattress if you don’t want to drop it off yourself.
Either way, recycling your mattress is an eco-friendly alternative to simply throwing it in a landfill.
Can You Recycle A Mattress
At the very least, some parts of your mattress will be recyclable, and its possible that all of it will be. And yet, according to The Furniture Recycling Group, Wembley Stadium could be filled five times with the 7.5m mattresses that are discarded in the UK every year.
While mattress recycling is relatively labour-intensive, more and more facilities capable of doing so are springing up around the UK. These facilities will break down your mattress into its recyclable components springs can then be melted down and remade into new metal products, while synthetic layers such as foam can either be used to make carpet underlay, or else can be sent to a plant where the waste can at least be converted into energy.
Aside from taking your old mattress to your nearest recycling centre yourself, the best way to ensure your mattress is recycled is to pay for it to be collected. But whether you use the local council, the company delivering your new mattress or a specialist mattress removal company, make sure it is clearly stated that the mattress will be recycled. Otherwise, its probably best to assume that it wont be.
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Things To Do Before You Dispose Of Your Old Mattress
Before you throw your old mattress into the dumpster, you should also be aware of two key policies: your mattress’s warranty policy and your state’s mattress disposal policy. Both of these requirements can impact your next moves regarding if and how you dispose of your mattress.
Most mattresses come with a warranty that details the types of problems the manufacturer will repair for free. Warranties often allow consumers to receive a free repair or replacement for any manufacturing defects that impact their mattress’s effectiveness.
Similarly, each state has its own policies and procedures that dictate how citizens can dispose of their mattresses. For example, some states do not allow you to put your mattress out with the rest of your garbage but instead require you to take your mattress to a specific disposal facility.
Here is some more information about these two essential policies.
