Break The Mattress Down Yourself
If you have the time, space, and tools, you can easily break a mattress down yourself. Simply cut around the perimeter of the fabric covering and peel the cloth and foam away from the box springs and wooden frame. You can roll these materials into a compact bundle and put them in your regular trash can. Next, take a saw and cut up the framewhich you can then burn or turn into wood chips. Take the box springs to a recycling center or sell them for scrap.
Given that mattresses can be so difficult to dispose of effectively, you may want to factor durability into your purchasing decisions. Some mattresses come with warranties that range up to 20 years. With proper maintenance, its not impossible for mattresses to last for decades, which can go a long way toward reducing your households overall waste footprint.
Selling Donating And Recycling Your Mattress
“Many recycling centers offer mattress recycling. They’ll disassemble the mattress, remove the springs, and upcycle as much as possible.”
Kathryn Kellogg
Kathryn Kellogg
Why We Should Recycle Mattresses Mattress Disposal And Recycling
If possible, we should recycle mattresses for the reasons below:
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Well Tell You How To Responsibly Get Rid Of Your Used Mattress In Boston
Boston residents are lucky to have free pickup of most bulky items, like a mattress and box spring, from the City trash service available. It definitely makes it simpler to get rid of an unwanted mattress. If you have a mattress or other bed items you dont want, most of it can be put out on the curb.
Although, disposal of an old mattress with the garbage may not be your best choice, and its against city regulation in some instances, which can earn you a green ticket.
Whether youre buying a new mattress or just dont have room for the old one, you want to make sure youre disposing of your mattress responsibly.
Need to get rid of an old mattress? BOOK A PICKUP
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Disposing Of An Old Mattress In New York City
Do you live in the New York City area? Do you need help removing your old mattress, box springs or used furniture? Dont leave your old used mattress by the curb. Do your part to keep the community a nice place to live and easily hire a professional hauler like Mattress Disposal Plus to help you out with eco-friendly mattress disposal in New York City.
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What Options Are Available For Mattress Disposal
There are a number of ways to dispose of a mattress. Depending on where you live, some options may be easier than others, and some may be free while others will require you to pay.
In some cases, you will be getting rid of a mattress because you purchased a new one, in which case you can ask the new mattresss retailer if they offer a service to dispose of your old mattress.
Its also a good idea to research local options for large trash pickup, recycling, donation, or even creative reuse. Heres what you should know about five different mattress disposal options.
Wrap Your Mattress In A Plastic Bag
The next step on how to dispose of your mattress in NYC is to seal your mattress in a plastic bag before you put it out for collection. This is to help prevent the spread of bed bugs.
The plastic bag is not provided by DSNY. You can buy this at department stores, home improvement stores, and moving supply centers. You may use plastic bags of any color, except red or orange. Red garbage bags are used to dispose of medical waste and orange garbage bags are used for clinical wastes that need to be incinerated.
You are required to follow the standard process of getting rid of old mattress. Otherwise, your mattress will not be collected and you may receive a $100 fine.
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Put Mattress In Trash
Different states have regulations on how to discard a mattress. You need to know the rules specific to your area for mattress disposal. The authorities can find you if you leave your used mattress with the trash. Some places might require you to wrap it in a plastic bag before dumping it. So, this is how to throw away a mattress.
Some states like California, Connecticut, and Rhode Island have mattress recycling laws in place. The law in these states requires the manufacturers to provide you with a reliable solution to dispose of a mattress.
If you live in Los Gatos or the Bay Area, you can get fined for throwing out your mattress with other waste. So, it is better to check your states regulations before deciding what to do with your old mattress. Therefore, before taking your mattress to the bin, call your local garbage disposal office and ask them about the set of rules you need to follow.
Recyclable Parts Of Mattresses
Some mattress parts are recyclable. Below are the parts that businesses can reuse in some way:
- Springs: Businesses can melt these down to make various light iron-based items or scrap.
- Wadding: Manufacturers can repurpose this filling for cushions. How a business recycles the wadding depends on the material itself.
- Foam: Its possible to use this for alternative carpeting or as refuse fuel once the business has cleaned, processed and baled the foam.
- Mattress covering: Normally, its possible to recycle a good quality covering. Although there are different ways to use the covering again, the possibility of contamination makes the use of it as refuse fuel the most common way.
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How Do You Clean A Mattress
How to Clean a Mattress in 9 Simple Steps
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Taking The Mattress To The Landfill
If your is able to transport your mattress themselves, you may want to take it directly to the landfill rather than waiting for a trash pickup service to collect it. Your local landfill or dump may charge a fee to accept the mattress.
Pros
You may be able to take a mattress to the landfill on your own time, rather than waiting for a scheduled pickup appointment or bulk trash day.
Cons
You need to transport the mattress themselves, which will typically require a large vehicle. You may have to pay a fee for the landfill to accept the mattress.
Additionally, this is not a great option from an environmental standpoint. Landfills are already overflowing with waste, and mattresses contribute to that problem. According to a Seattle Times article, mattresses can cause issues for landfill equipment during garbage compaction: Mattresses dont compact well. Even worse, the mattress springs pop out and get tangled in the equipment, often damaging it.
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Selling Or Giving Away Your Mattress
If youve got a perfectly good mattress that you still need to get rid of, this is another good option. Just be sure that any transactions are safe, secure, and fair for both buyer and seller.
Where to Sell Your Mattress
- Facebook Marketplace
- Your local classified ads
Note: If you need the mattress out of your home quickly, this likely will not be your fastest option.
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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How To Find A Mattress Disposal Near Me
If you are confused about where to dispose of a mattress, you can contact your local waste disposal services. Google can help you locate the nearest mattress disposal services for you,
It can cost you around $20 to dispose of your mattress. It is not a hefty sum. So, make sure you take the help of waste disposal services for proper recycling of your mattress.
But, how to dispose of old mattresses for free? You can donate it to a charity. Some of them even have their pickup services.
How To Dispose Of A Mattress Responsibly
How to dispose of your old mattress? Here are some free, paid, and recycling options.
So you are preparing to shop for a new mattress to increase the comfort of your bed. But how will you properly let go of your old mattress? While many mattresses end up in landfills, there are more useful and environment-friendly options we suggest you try. Are they trickier? Perhaps, but they are far more efficient.
Before you go to your favourite mattress shop to buy your new mattress, it’s good to plan your mattress disposal for a seamless transition. This way, you don’t have to worry about your old mattress taking so much space in your home.
We will break down different ways to get rid of your old mattress and help you choose the method that will work for you.
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Addremove Is There A Limit To The Number Of Mattresses That Can Be Brought To The Landfill For Recycling
Residents are not limited to the number of recyclable mattresses they can bring to the Olinda Alpha and Prima Deschecha landfills. For details on acceptable or non-acceptable items, click here.
Commercial customers can drop off unlimited mattresses to any of our three active landfills for free as long as the load contains mattresses only. Mixed loads, containing waste and mattresses, will be charged standard waste fees. For details on acceptable or non-acceptable items, click here.
Addremove Why Recycle My Mattress
More than 80% of a mattress can be recycled, saving valuable resources and preserving the environment. The Bye Bye Mattress program picks up recyclable mattresses from the landfill and processes the recoverable materials for reuse. For more information on how mattress materials are repurposed, click here.
OC Waste & Recycling and Bye Bye Mattress estimates the partnership will prevent as many as 15,000 mattresses per year from being buried in our local landfills. The partnership also aims to reduce illegal mattress disposal by making recycling options more readily available to both residential and commercial customers.
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When Can I Throw Out My Mattress
I recommend waiting at least 7-8 years before replacing your mattress. Then, youll want to work in tandem with either a donation or recycling center to determine pick up, retrieval, and disposal. If youre doing a curbside pick up, youll want to make sure it lines up with your citys large waste disposal schedule.
States With Mattress Recycling Laws
As of the time this article was published, three states have laws on mattress recycling: California, Rhode Island and Connecticut. In these states, rules have been created around how a mattress is disposed of in an effort to lessen environmental impacts. In California, Rhode Island and Connecticut, it is required that the store from which you buy a mattress provide you with a mattress removal service for your old one.
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Find A Specialized Recycling Program To Get Rid Of A Mattress
If youre not able to sell or donate your mattress, check with your city to see what your options are to get rid of a mattress. Many municipalities offer recycling programs themselves, or can point you in the direction of a local recycler. Some cities will even pick up your used mattress curbside and dispose of it appropriately.
The Number Of Mattress Disposals Increased From 2016 To 2017
The NBF estimated that people and businesses in the UK disposed of around 7,260,000 mattresses between them and that 91% of the new mattresses people bought were replacing old ones. Although this replacement rate was the same for 2016, the nation disposed of fewer mattresses. The NBF estimated wed thrown out around 6,720,00 mattresses.
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Where Can I Throw Away A Mattress
Disposing of a mattress differs a lot from community to community, so your best bet is to do some research beforehand to figure out how your local government deals with large scale waste. This is important, because if you discard your mattress inappropriately, you could be fined or face legal action.
Quick Easy Furniture Removal Services
Moving old furniture is never an easy task. Its heavy, awkward to move around through your home, and nearly impossible to haul around on your own. If you have a dolly, find a few friends to help and manage to get it all loaded up, youre still faced with the issue of having to haul it down to the dump, local charity, or wherever its final destination may be, all on your own!
What if there was an easier way? When you call the expert crew at 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, all these worries go right out the door!
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Extending The Life Of Your Mattress
There are a few ways you can extend the life of your old mattress but its not recommended. Old mattresses tend to have sleepers tossing and turning during the night, due to sagging and more. They also have the ability to negatively affect a persons overall health. Dust mites are unfortunately a common mattress issue that can cause many health problems, especially in allergy and asthma sufferers.
Sleeping on an old mattress can even be stressful, proven by a bed-based study which concluded that sleeping on a new mattress increases sleep quality and reduces back discomfort.
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Glass Plastic & Metal
- All clean plastic containers labeled with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 symbol. Considered trash if not.
- All clean plastic food containers- with 1,2,3,4,5,6,or 7 symbol. Considered Trash if not.
- Glass bottles/ jars No broken or other glass such as light bulbs, window or auto glass, dishes, glasses, Pyrex.
- Loose containers only no plastic bags.
- Metal cans, clean aluminum foil and aerosol cans No paint cans.
- No cartons Considered trash.
- Place in a recycling bin or another container . Please place separate from trash.
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How Long Does A Pocket Sprung Mattress Last
Of the 81 spring mattress weve tested, more than half of them earn four stars or more in our tough durability tests.
After measuring the height, firmness and supportiveness of every mattress we test, we then simulate up to a decade of use by rolling a heavy barrel over the mattress 30,000 times. To do well in our durability tests, a mattress must maintain its supportiveness, firmness and height.
Our pick of the best pocket sprung mattresses will help you pick out a long-lasting option, but to maximise its lifespan you need to make sure you follow the manufacturers instructions for rotating or turning it.
Check With Your Local Trash Collection Service
In some areas, municipal curbside services will remove mattresses during weekly collection days or on specified bulk pickup days. Reach out to your townâs trash and recycling service to see if this is an option in your area and how items should be prepared for pickup.
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