There are some items that are easy to throw away. Food scraps can be composted. Cardboard boxes can be recycled. Used paper towels can be thrown in the trash. But there are some items that have to be thrown out occasionally that are trickier. For instance, what do you do if you have an old mattress you need to throw out? It’s not the kind of thing that will fit in your trash can, and you may wonder if throwing your mattress away is the best thing to do with it, anyway. Very little of mattresses can be recycled — typically only the foam used. That said, here are some ways to dispose of your mattress.
Check With Your Local Trash Collector
Some local trash collectors have a solid waste garbage day, or might accept a mattress brought out to the curb with a sign reading “solid waste.” Others might have a solid waste collection site where you can drop off the mattress after a short drive. Before you decide anything else, try contacting your local trash and recycling collector to see what their recommendation might be.
Give Away the Mattress
Does your neighborhood have a “junk day,” in which residents might put old furniture or other features on the curb to be picked up for free? If your mattress is in good shape, you can bring your things out to the curb on junk day. If you don’t, you may be able to use an online source such as Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist to sell the mattress. You may even be able to donate the mattress to Goodwill or a similar store so that the mattress can be bought by someone who needs it for an affordable cost.
Return It to the Manufacturer
About 40 million mattresses are thrown away every year in the United States. Because they’re so tricky to recycle or dispose of, most homeowners simply don’t bother and throw them out as solid waste. Many mattress manufacturers seek to change this by taking old mattresses back and recycling them or using the material for themselves. Call your mattress manufacturer to ask if they accept used mattresses. If so, you can deliver it or ship it to them.
Recycle
This may seem like a contradiction to our earlier point about only being able to recycle the foam. But some specialty recycling companies do accept mattresses. In fact, in some parts of the country, there’s an entire Mattress Recycling Council dedicated to finding a way to recycle mattresses. Unfortunately, this does not reach Texas, but Earth 911 does exist throughout Texas and accepts mattresses.
Have more questions about disposing of tricky items? Ask a trash and recycling professional that has your local community covered. Contact BV Trash Valet & Recycling today for more information about our weekly trash pickup and complimentary recycling.
