Mattress Recycling in Los Angeles: Where Your Old Mattress Actually Goes

The easiest way to get a mattress recycled in Los Angeles is to book Dump Happy: we carry it out of your home and route it to a California mattress recycler, where its steel, foam, fiber, and wood are turned into new products instead of being buried in a landfill. Pickups start at $289.

Call (424) 356-4141 or get a free quote. Here's what actually happens to your old mattress once it leaves your bedroom.

Can you recycle a mattress in Los Angeles?

Yes. California passed the Used Mattress Recovery and Recycling Act (SB 254) in 2013, which created a statewide mattress recycling system. It covers mattresses, box springs, and futon mattresses, and it's why mattresses in California are meant to be recycled rather than landfilled.

Who pays for mattress recycling in California?

Everyone who buys a mattress or box spring in California pays a small recycling fee at checkout. That fee funds the recycling system itself: the facilities that break mattresses down and the transport to get them there.

How does Dump Happy get your mattress to a recycler?

1. You book a pickup and get a firm, load-based price.
2. Our crew carries the mattress out from any room, stairs included.
3. We keep mattresses and box springs separate from general junk on the truck.
4. We deliver them to a California mattress recycler.

At the facility, workers cut mattresses open and separate the materials by hand and machine. See our mattress removal in Los Angeles page for how a pickup works.

What do recycled mattresses become?

According to the Mattress Recycling Council, up to 75% of a mattress's components can be recycled. Each material has its own second life:

• Steel springs: sold as scrap metal and melted down for new steel products, including construction rebar.
• Foam: shredded and rebonded into carpet padding.
• Fiber and fabric: reused in products such as insulation.
• Wood: from box spring frames, chipped into mulch.

Using recovered materials means less demand for raw materials, which is the whole point of keeping mattresses out of landfills.

Is mattress recycling the same as mattress donation?

No. Donation means someone else sleeps on the mattress, and used mattresses are rarely reusable for hygiene reasons. Recycling means the mattress is taken apart and its materials are reused, so condition matters much less. A stained, sagging, or twenty-year-old mattress can usually still be recycled, as long as it's dry.

Bed frames and headboards are different: they're furniture, so when we pick up a solid one in good shape, we donate it when we can.

Why can't a mattress just go in the trash?

Mattresses are bulky, don't compact well, and take up a lot of landfill space for their weight. Their steel coils can also tangle in equipment built for household trash. That's why California built a dedicated recycling system for them. Our California mattress disposal guide covers the rules in more detail.

Which mattresses can't be recycled?

Mattresses that are soaked, severely damaged, or heavily soiled may not be recyclable. A mattress that sat in the rain in an alley for a week often ends up as trash rather than recycling, which is one more reason to keep it indoors until pickup. If yours has bed bugs, follow our bed bug mattress disposal guide and tell us when you book.

Is a recycled mattress the same as one that's been dumped?

No. An illegally dumped mattress on a curb or alley is a cleanup problem, not a recycling one. Abandoning a mattress outside is illegal dumping under California Penal Code 374.3, with LA County fines up to $10,000.

How to make sure your mattress actually gets recycled

• Keep it dry and indoors until pickup.
• Ask your hauler where mattresses go. We'll tell you plainly: a California mattress recycler.
• Avoid unlicensed "cash only" haulers who can't say where it ends up.

Book mattress recycling pickup with Dump Happy

Dump Happy serves the Westside, South Bay, and Central LA, including Venice and Mid-City, open 10am to 8pm daily. See pricing, compare mattress pickup timing in LA, or read about what happens to your box spring and bed frame. Then call (424) 356-4141 or get a free quote.