Mattress Recycling Guide
Mattress Recycling in London & UK
Need to recycle your old mattress? Everything you ever needed to know about responsible mattress recycling.
- Reuse your mattress
- Retailer take-back scheme
- Take it to your local civic amenity site
- Council bulky waste collection
- Man & van mattress removal
- Hire a skip
- How are mattresses recycled?
1. Mattress recycling - Reuse
Firstly, if you want to donate or sell your mattress, you’ll need to check if your fire safety label is still intact as it won’t be accepted without it. It will look like this:
It might be worth searching online if any local charities, organisations, homeless shelters or women’s refuges accept mattresses. National organisations and charities such as the British Heart Foundation, Emmaus, British Red Cross and Furniture Donation Network are normally happy to take good quality, clean mattresses off your hands.
You could also give your mattress away for free on websites such as Freecycle and Freegle. If you’re hoping to get a bit of cash back for your mattress, you can sell it online on websites such as Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree and Preloved.
2. Retailer take back schemes - give your mattress to the store
Some mattress retailers offer their customers the option to dispose of their old mattresses if they buy a new one through them. This can incur a charge, but sometimes if you’re lucky, it’s free. This is a great mattress recycling option.
| Retailer | Price of collection & disposal | Link |
| Bensons for Beds | N/A | N/A |
| Carpetright | £40.00 | https://www.carpetright.co.uk/bed-recycling-service |
| Casper | £15.00* | https://casper.com/uk/en/faqs/uk-orders-shipping/what-is-included-in-mattress-removal/ |
| Dreams | £25.00 – single
£35.00 – double £40.00 – king & super king |
https://www.dreams.co.uk/recycling-services |
| Emma | £35.00 | https://www.emma-mattress.co.uk/faq/collections/ |
| Furniture Village | £55.00 | https://www.furniturevillage.co.uk/furniture-collection-service.html |
| IKEA | £20.00 | https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/customer-service/services/removal-recycling/ |
| John Lewis | £29.95 | https://www.johnlewis.com/our-services/home-furnishings |
| Land of Beds | £39.00 | https://www.landofbeds.co.uk/removal-and-recycle |
| Mattress Man | £25.00 | https://www.mattressman.co.uk/delivery |
| Nectar | £35.00 | https://www.nectarsleep.co.uk/faq |
| Next | £20.00 | https://www.next.co.uk/style/es862657 |
| Silent Night | £30.00 | https://www.silentnight.co.uk/environment |
3. Take it to be recycled at your local civic amenity site
Another mattress disposal option is to take it to your local civic amenity site, also known as the ‘tip’ or a household waste recycling centre (HWRC).
Other than donating your old mattress for free, this is often the cheapest disposal option because the majority of HWRCs are free to use and invariably it will be recycled because most councils ensure it is. The only disadvantage of this disposal method is that you’ll need a car to get there and your closest centre may not be close to where you live, especially if you live in a rural area. Also, fitting the mattress in the back of your car could be tricky depending on the size of your car and whether or not the mattress rolls up.
4. Council bulky waste collection (mattress likely to be recycled)
Householders also have the option to use their local council’s bulky waste service to collect and dispose of their mattresses. All councils provide this service but they do vary in how much they charge to collect bulky items. While this option is usually cheaper than using a private waste removal company, it often takes the council longer to have your mattress picked up and they generally don’t accept as many different waste types.
5. Man and van mattress removal (mattress likely to be recycled)
If you need fast rubbish removal, your best option is to use a private waste contractor as they have the fastest response times. If you’re London based, the easiest way to find a nearby licensed waste collector is with LoveJunk.
