Old Mattresses are made of different materials, including metal springs, foam rubber, cotton, heavy cloth and hair. With all this inside them, recycling can be difficult; and they need to be segregated into different waste streams first. Typically, households hire 2 cubic yard skips to dispose of general household and garden waste but not all recycling centres take mattresses for disposal.
National Bed Federation aims to divert 75% of mattresses away from landfill by the year 2028. The mattress recycling rates need to be increased in the UK to achieve this goal.
Here are the top 5 tips for disposing of mattresses
Donate the mattress
You can donate your old mattress for sustainability if you are looking to buy a new one. There are also a lot of charities that accept old mattresses if they’re in reusable condition.
Sell your used mattress
Before considering the disposal options, check whether the mattress is in good condition to sell. There are several online marketplaces where you can list your old mattress for sale.
Exchange your old mattress
A lot of mattress retailers now offer this scheme where you can buy a new mattress in exchange for an old one. This will also reduce your cost while ensuring recycling. So, make sure to confirm with the seller if they have such exchange schemes when buying a new mattress.
Local Recycling Centres
You need to dispose of your mattress if it’s not in a condition to reuse, and for this, you can take it to your local recycling centre. Please confirm before taking your mattress to these centres, as not all of them accept mattresses. You can take help from websites to find your nearest local recycling centres to ease the process.
Professional Waste Collection Service
If you aren’t left with any of the above-mentioned options, book a waste collection service. There are several skip-hire service-providing companies that allow adding your mattress to their collection load. Your local supplier can also offer you a ‘Man and Van’ collection service to dispose of your mattress. It is best to book such a service when you are performing large house clearances.
Hire a 2 cubic yard skip or any other skip of your preferable size from Alpha Skip Hire, as we have a wide range of options to offer you. We also provide roll on roll off skip bin containers for waste that cannot be handled by our larger skips. Contact us to arrange a collection.