Program to Recycle Mattresses – Free!
According to the Mattress Recycling Council, over 50,000 mattresses end up in U.S. landfills each day – that’s nearly 20 million annually! Worse even, is that many of those mattresses are illegally dumped, resulting in millions of tax dollars spent on clean-up.
The good news is that California’s Used Mattress Recovery and Recycling Act (SB 254 – effective January 1, 2016) established extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation that covers the cost of mattress recycling. Consumers now pay a recycling fee when purchasing a new mattress, which helps fund the proper recycling of old mattresses and box springs.
Here at Salinas Valley Recycles, you can bring up to TEN mattresses or box springs to any of our facilities, and it’s completely FREE!
Drop Off Locations
Households can bring up to 10 mattresses or box springs for FREE recycling to any of these sites:
Johnson Canyon Landfill: 31400 Johnson Canyon Rd Gonzales CA 93926
Other ways to properly dispose of mattresses and box springs is to schedule a bulky item pick-up from your garbage and recycling hauler or bring them to a community cleanup event. Don’t forget to contact your hauler to make sure mattresses and box springs are accepted and if fees apply.
There are plenty of benefits that come with recycling your mattress. From the environmental impact to the money you can save, mattress recycling is a simple action that goes a long way. If you want more information about how mattresses are recycled and why it’s important, visit the Mattress Recycling Council.
The vast majority of discarded mattresses and box springs are eligible for no-cost drop-off and recycling. Accepted items in the Mattress Recycling Program are:
Mattresses: which are defined as any sleep surface covered with ticking or fabric that contains resilient material such as steel innersprings, foam, fiber or other filling or upholstery materials, used alone or in combination, regardless of size or shape. This definition includes foam mattresses.
Futons: Futon mattresses must be detachable from the frame or base to be accepted. (Futon mattresses that do not detach from the frame or base are not included.)
Box springs (also called foundations): A ticking or fabric-covered structure used to support a mattress or sleep surface and may be comprised of a frame, foam, springs or other structure, or other materials, used alone or in combination, regardless of whether the product is stationary or adjustable.
Items that are not accepted include:
- Units that are wet, heavily soiled or infested with bedbugs
- Air mattresses that contain no upholstery material (such as camping beds)
- Car beds
- Cushions (such as from chairs, couches or patio furniture)
- Juvenile products including, crib and bassinet mattresses, carriages, baskets, dressing tables, strollers, playpens, infant carriers, lounge pad, crib bumpers
- Mattress pads
- Mattress toppers
- Pillows
- Sleeping bags
- Sofa beds
- Collapsible roll-away beds
- Water beds that contain no upholstery material
