An old mattress is one of the most awkward things to get rid of. It won’t fit in your trash cart, most donation centers don’t want it, and it fights you the whole way down the stairs. The good news is that mattress disposal in Denver is simpler than it looks once you know the real options: the city’s large item pickup, a recycling drop-off in Commerce City, donation if the mattress is genuinely clean, or haul-away when a new one is delivered.
And if that mattress is one item in a bigger pile, a roll-off dumpster in the driveway usually beats making a separate trip for every category of junk. We’ve been renting dumpsters across the Denver metro since 1998, and this question comes up constantly. Here’s what actually works.
How do I dispose of a mattress through Denver’s trash service?
If you live in Denver proper and have city trash service, the city will take it. Denver Solid Waste Management’s Large Item Pickup program accepts mattresses and box springs along with furniture and other bulky household items, at no extra charge, on a schedule that runs roughly every nine weeks per address.
One detail that trips people up: your mattress and box spring must be bagged and wrapped to qualify. An unwrapped mattress can be skipped on collection day. Each address is limited to 5 large items plus up to 10 bags per pickup, and everything needs to be out by 6 a.m. on your regular collection day.
The catch is timing. If your next large item date is nine weeks out, that mattress lives in your garage until then. Look up your scheduled date at the Large Item Pickup page or call 311 to find your next pickup date.
If you’re in Arvada, Aurora, Centennial, or another suburb served by a private trash hauler, bulky item rules vary by company and by contract. Some include a bulky pickup once or twice a year, others charge per item, and some won’t take mattresses at all. A quick call to your hauler settles it.
Where can I recycle a mattress near Denver?
Mattress recycling in the Denver area runs through Spring Back Colorado in Commerce City. You can drop off a mattress or box spring at 4975 Pontiac St with no appointment, weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. or Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Drop-off runs $40 per piece, and they also run a paid pickup service across the metro if you’d rather not load it yourself. They break down more than 6,000 mattresses and box springs a month so the steel, foam, and fiber get reused instead of buried.
Recycling is worth the small fee. Mattresses are a genuine problem at the landfill; the springs tangle in equipment and the bulk takes up space, which is why plenty of disposal facilities charge extra to accept them.
Can I donate my old mattress?
Only if it’s honestly in good shape: clean, stain-free, no rips or sagging, from a smoke-free home. Health rules mean many charities no longer accept used mattresses at all, and the ones that do will turn away anything questionable. Call before you load it up. If you have to talk yourself into believing it’s donatable, it isn’t. Recycle it instead.
Will the store haul away my old mattress when the new one arrives?
Often, yes. If you’re replacing the mattress, ask about haul-away when you order the new one. Many retailers will take the old set when the delivery crew brings the new one, sometimes free and sometimes for a fee, so get it noted on the delivery order and have the old mattress stripped and ready. Delivery crews generally can’t take a mattress with stains or bug damage, so this route has the same cleanliness bar as donation.
When does renting a dumpster beat single-item mattress disposal?
When the mattress is one line on a long list. If you’re clearing out a basement, emptying a rental between tenants, handling an estate, or purging before a move, hauling each category of junk to a different destination gets old fast. A roll-off dumpster in the driveway lets you toss the mattress, the broken dresser, and forty years of garage buildup into one container and be done with all of it at once.
One thing to know up front: Sam’s Hauling rents dumpsters; we don’t offer a junk pickup service. We drop the container where you want it, you load it at your own pace, and we haul it away when you’re done. If you want a crew to carry things out of the house for you, that’s a different kind of company.
What size dumpster fits a cleanout that includes a mattress?
Our containers come in 6, 9, 12, and 16 cubic yards, all with a small footprint that fits in a normal driveway. For reference, a pickup truck bed holds roughly 2 to 3 cubic yards. A queen mattress and box spring take up a real chunk of a small container, so size for the whole pile rather than the bed alone:
- 6 cubic yards: a small purge, a single room, or one corner of the garage
- 9 cubic yards: a full garage or a small basement cleanout
- 12 cubic yards: a whole basement or a multi-room clearout
- 16 cubic yards: estate cleanouts and moves where most of the house is going
Every container loads through a side door, so you can walk the mattress in instead of heaving it over the wall. Flat pricing with generous weight limits means the quote you get on the phone is the price you pay. If you’re weighing the numbers, our guide to dumpster rental costs in Denver walks through what drives the price. And if the container has to sit in the street instead of the driveway, check whether your rental needs a permit first.
Do I need to mention the mattress when I book?
Yes, please. Disposal facilities handle mattresses differently than general debris, so tell us a mattress is going in the container when you call. Knowing it’s in the load lets us give you straight guidance on space and weight before the truck shows up, and it keeps your flat quote accurate.
FAQs About Mattress Disposal in Denver
1. Does Sam’s Hauling pick up a single mattress without a dumpster rental?
No. Sam’s Hauling rents roll-off containers; we don’t run a standalone junk pickup service. If a mattress is the only thing you need gone, Denver’s Large Item Pickup, Spring Back Colorado, or your mattress retailer’s haul-away service will get it out of the house without a container in your driveway.
2. Can I just put a mattress in a dumpster with the rest of my junk?
Yes. Mattresses are accepted alongside general household debris in a Sam’s Hauling container. Just mention it when you book so we can account for the space it takes up in your container.
3. Does my mattress need to be wrapped for Denver’s Large Item Pickup?
Yes. The city requires mattresses and box springs to be bagged and wrapped before they’re set out, or they can be skipped on collection day. Furniture and most other large items don’t have this requirement, but mattresses do.
4. What’s the real difference between city pickup and Spring Back Colorado?
Timing and cost. The city’s Large Item Pickup is free but only comes around roughly every nine weeks per address. Spring Back Colorado charges $40 per piece but takes drop-offs any weekday or Saturday morning with no appointment, so it’s the faster option if you can’t wait for your scheduled pickup date.
5. Can I donate a mattress that’s a little worn but not stained?
Most charities that still accept mattresses hold a strict line: clean, no stains, no rips or sagging, from a smoke-free home. “A little worn” usually fails that bar. Call the specific donation center before you haul it over, and recycle it through Spring Back Colorado if they turn it down.
Ready to get it out of the house?
If it’s one mattress, book the city’s large item pickup or run it up to Spring Back in Commerce City. If it’s a mattress plus everything else, give us a call for a flat-price quote. A real person answers, we’ll tell you which size fits your project, and we can deliver even if you’re not home. We serve Denver, Arvada, Aurora, Broomfield, Centennial, Englewood, Golden, and the rest of the metro, and we’ve been doing this since 1998.
