How to Get Rid of an Old Mattress: A UK Guide to Mattress Collection, Disposal and Recycling

This guide walks you through every way to get rid of an old mattress in the UK, from mattress collection on delivery day to the tip, what each option really costs you in money and hassle, and what happens to your mattress once it’s gone. We’ll also tell you which route we’d take ourselves, and why. So let’s not stop the excitement of waiting for your new bed, but let’s avoid the drama that can happen if you haven’t considered disposing of or recycling your old mattress!

Mattress disposal in short

You’ve got five realistic options: have it collected when your new mattress is delivered, book a council bulky waste collection, take it to your local recycling centre, donate or sell it if it’s still in good nick, or pay a private collection company.

We recommend sorting it out when you order your new mattress, not on the day it arrives. Booking a collection with your new mattress delivery is usually the cheapest and easiest route, because the van and two strong people are already at your house. With us, Eco Mattress Recycling is £60 and your old mattress goes to a specialist recycler here in the UK.

What this guide covers

• Why you need a plan for your old mattress before you order
• How to get rid of an old mattress in the UK: your options
• Can you get rid of a mattress for free?
• Getting rid of an old divan base, headboard or bed frame
• How much does mattress collection and disposal cost?
• What if your old mattress is wet or heavily soiled?
• Mattress recycling: what happens to your old mattress
• Ask where your old mattress is going
• What not to do with an old mattress
• Can you cut up and recycle a mattress yourself?
• Buy a mattress that won’t be back at the tip in a few years
• Your old mattress checklist
• Mattress disposal FAQs

Why you need a plan for your old mattress before you order

When we first started making mattresses, the two of us delivered every single one ourselves. So we know delivery day from the doorstep end, and we can tell you that the new mattress is rarely the problem. The old one is. John and I spent many of those early days struggling with someone’s old mattress, squashing it into their study or garage and trying to find the phone number for their council’s mattress disposal options. This is way back before we could offer recycling ourselves!

The delivery day headache we still see

It usually goes something like this. You’ve chosen your mattress, waited for it to be made, and the big day arrives. The delivery team carries your new mattress up the stairs, and then there’s an awkward pause because the old one is still on the bed and nobody has thought about where it’s going.

Suddenly your old mattress needs somewhere to live. It ends up propped against the wall in the spare room, wedged in the garage behind the car, or stood in the hallway like a sulking teenager while the whole family squeezes past it for a fortnight.

Then comes the scramble. You’re ringing round for a last-minute man with a van who charges like a removals firm, or waiting weeks for the council’s next bulky waste slot. We get calls from customers in exactly this spot, and every one of them could have been avoided with a tick box at the checkout!

Why mattresses are so hard to get rid of yourself

Mattresses are notoriously difficult to dispose of yourself. A king size is 5ft wide and 6ft 6in long; it won’t fold into a car boot, and a sprung mattress is heavy. Our king-size mattresses weigh anywhere from 40kg to 72kg, and the one you’re replacing won’t be far off.

Here are the standard UK sizes, so you can see what you’re dealing with.

Bed & Mattress Sizes UK	Metric Dimensions	Imperial Dimensions
Small Single	80cm x 190cm	2’ 6” x 6’3”
Single	90cm x 190cm	3′ x 6’3″
Small Double	120cm x 190cm	4″ x 6’3
Double	135cm x 190cm	4’6″ x 6’3″
Continental Double	140cm x 200cm	4’7” x 6’6”
King	150cm x 200cm	5′ x 6’6″
Continental King	160cm x 200cm	5’3″ x 6’6″
Extra King	180cm x 190cm	6’0 x 6’3
Super King	180cm x 200cm	6′ x 6’6″
*All furniture dimensions are covered by a tolerance of up to 2cm.

Unless you’ve got a van, or a roof rack and a very patient friend, it isn’t going anywhere. And we really wouldn’t fancy your chances driving round the ring road with a king-size mattress flapping on the roof like a sail.

So decide before you order. You’ve usually got a few weeks while a handmade mattress is being made, which is plenty of time to book the right option for you.

How to get rid of an old mattress in the UK: your options

Here are all the realistic ways to get rid of an old mattress, starting with the one we’d choose ourselves. The best option depends on what you’re buying, where you live, and whether your old mattress still has life left in it.

1. Old mattress collection when your new mattress is delivered

Many mattress companies now offer to take your old mattress away on delivery day, and we always suggest this route. Think about it. The van is already outside, the two people carrying your new mattress in are already in your bedroom, and your old mattress walks out the same door the new one came in through.

There’s no gap between the two either. You sleep on your old mattress until the new one arrives, so you won’t have a night on the floor if a delivery gets delayed by traffic.

With us, Eco Mattress Recycling is £60, on top of our £40 UK mainland delivery. Add it to your basket when you order your new mattress, or ask our team if you’re ordering by phone. We’ll take your old mattress, whatever the make, type or age, and it goes to a specialist recycling centre here in the UK where it’s stripped back and broken down into its separate materials.

There’s one condition. We can’t take a mattress that’s wet or heavily soiled because it travels home in the same van as other customers’ brand-new beds, and we won’t risk a public health issue. More on what to do with one of those further down.

Replacing the base or headboard too? We can take away your old divan base too, and if you’re taking a headboard with it, that’s included in the base charge.

The charge is per item, so a mattress and a divan base are £60 each, £120 in total. The one thing we can’t take is a bed frame, as explained below.

Otherwise, just strip the bedding off and have it ready to go when the team arrive. Read more about how the day works in our mattress delivery guide.

2. Book a council mattress collection

Most councils will collect a mattress from outside your home as a bulky item. You book online, pay a fee, and leave the mattress out on the agreed day.

The price is a real postcode lottery. When the National Bed Federation asked all 385 waste authorities in the UK about it, charges for a mattress collection ranged from free to £76.30, and paying more didn’t necessarily mean your mattress was recycled. You can find your council’s service through GOV.UK, and the NBF’s free mattress disposal portal shows what your local authority does with the mattresses it collects.

The catch is timing. Collection slots can be days or weeks away, and you’ll need to get the mattress outside yourself. If you put it out early and it rains, you’ll leave a soggy mattress on the drive for the neighbours to admire.

3. Take it to your local recycling centre (the tip)

Your local household waste recycling centre will usually take a mattress, and for residents it’s often free. The problem is getting it there, and that is where most people get stuck.

In Greater Manchester, there are 20 recycling centres, free for residents of the nine councils they serve, and they have containers for mattresses. But if you turn up in a van, a hired van, a pickup truck, or with a twin-axle trailer, you need a van permit before you visit. That catches out plenty of people who hire a van for the afternoon, thinking the job’s sorted.

Other areas have their own rules, so check your council’s website before you set off. Then add up the van hire, the fuel, the permit faff and your Saturday morning, and see how that compares with a £60 collection!

4. Charity mattress collection, or sell it, if it’s still fit to sleep on

If your mattress is clean and has plenty of life left (maybe it’s from a spare room, or it simply wasn’t right for you), giving it a second home is the greenest option.

Charities such as the British Heart Foundation offer free furniture collections, but they can only take a mattress with its fire safety label still firmly attached, and with no rips or tears. By law they can’t sell upholstered items without that label, so if you’ve cut it off, a charity can’t help you. Clean and unstained is a must too.

So where is it? Look for a sewn-in label, usually along the edge or near a corner of the mattress, referring to BS 7177, the British safety standard for mattresses. The batch details need to be readable.

If you’re curious why that label is there at all, our guide to fire retardant methods and compliance explains it.

Booking a British Heart Foundation mattress collection is free. You fill in their online form, and your local furniture store gets in touch within five working days to agree a date. Their van crews will turn away anything they can’t sell, so be honest about the condition when you book.

Selling or giving it away through local listing sites works the same way. Be honest about the age and condition, keep the fire label on, and be ready for plenty of people who say they’ll collect it and then vanish.

5. Pay a private collection company

There are specialist mattress collection firms all over the UK, and the good ones will pick up at a time that suits you and send your mattress to a proper recycler. This is a sensible route if you’re not buying a new mattress at the same time, or you’re clearing a house.

Some firms offer same day mattress collection, which is handy if you’re properly stuck. Expect to pay for the convenience, though, because that’s exactly the delivery day panic we’d rather you avoided.

Be very careful who you hand it to, though. Under UK law you have a duty of care for your own household waste, which means checking that whoever takes it away is a registered waste carrier.

You can do that in a couple of minutes on the Environment Agency’s public register. More on why that matters in a moment.

Can you get rid of a mattress for free?

Yes, sometimes, but free nearly always comes with a catch. We get asked this a lot, so here’s the honest version.

Your local recycling centre is usually free for residents, as long as you can get the mattress there yourself. Some councils still collect mattresses free of charge too, although many charge a fee. Check yours on your council’s website.

If your mattress is clean, undamaged, and still has its fire label, a British Heart Foundation charity collection costs you nothing. Giving it away locally can work as well, provided the label is still on.

Then there’s “free removal” from a retailer or a stranger with a van. Free removal and free recycling are two very different things, which is why we’d always ask where your old mattress is going before you hand it over.

Getting rid of an old divan base, headboard or bed frame

Your old mattress often isn’t the only thing going. If you’re buying a new base as well, the old divan has to go somewhere too, and a divan is every bit as awkward to shift as a mattress (and often heavier).

Here’s what we can do when we deliver. We’ll take away your old divan base for the same £60 as a mattress, because our charge is per item. So if you’re swapping both, add Eco Mattress Recycling twice, and it’s £120 for the pair.

A headboard is included with the divan base removal, so there’s no need to unbolt it and find it a home of its own. If you’re only replacing the headboard, we can take that on its own too, and it’s the same £60. Just let us know what you’re ordering so we can plan the van.

Why we can’t take bed frames

We can’t remove bed frames, whether they’re wooden, metal, or upholstered, so you’ll need to sort that job yourself. If your frame has a separate headboard you’re getting rid of, though, we can take the headboard for £60.

The good news is that a frame is far easier to deal with yourself than a mattress. Once it’s dismantled, it’ll usually fit in a car, and your local recycling centre will normally take the wood or metal. A frame in decent condition also sells or gives away easily locally, and charities such as the British Heart Foundation take bedroom furniture too.

We recommend taking the frame apart the day before, keeping the bolts in a bag taped to one of the rails, and getting it out of the bedroom before the new mattress arrives. You’ll thank yourself when the delivery team are carrying the new one in.

How much does mattress collection and disposal cost?

Well, it depends on which of those routes you take, and the sticker price is only half the story. Here’s how they stack up in our experience.

Collection with your new mattress is a fixed fee, and with us that’s £60 for Eco Mattress Recycling, or £120 if your old divan base is going too. Council collections run from free to around £76.30 depending on your postcode, and you do the carrying. The tip is often free, but only once you’ve found a way to get a 5ft by 6ft 6in mattress there.

Private collection firms vary a lot, so get a quote and ask what’s included. The most expensive option of all is the panicked one on delivery day, when you’ll pay whatever the first man with a van asks.

What if your old mattress is wet or heavily soiled?

A few old marks are normal on a mattress that’s done years of service, and they won’t stop us taking it. We can’t take a mattress that’s wet or heavily soiled. It would travel in the same van as brand-new beds on their way to other customers, and we simply won’t risk that.

Charities won’t take one either, and many collection services have similar rules. So your options are usually your council’s bulky waste collection or your local recycling centre. Tell them the condition when you book, so there are no surprises on the day.

If it’s only damp from a spill, let it dry out fully first. Wrap a soiled mattress in a heavy duty mattress bag before you move it, which keeps your car, your stairs and whoever’s helping you a lot cleaner. And please don’t leave it outside in the rain while you wait (it’ll only get heavier).

Mattress recycling: what happens to your old mattress

So what actually happens when a mattress is recycled? Most of it is done by hand. Specialist recyclers cut the cover away, pull out the springs, and sort the fillings into separate material types so each can be reused.

Not far from us, in Bolton, The Furniture Recycling Group recycles the mattresses collected from recycling centres across Greater Manchester, around 15,000 of them every month. Each one is dismantled by hand into 19 different component parts. Steel springs are baled up and sent off to be melted down, foam is reprocessed into products like carpet underlay, and textiles such as Cotton are sorted for reuse.

We’ll be straight with you about one thing, as mattress makers. Pocket springs are fiddly to recycle.

Each spring sits in its own little fabric pocket, and on most pocket spring mattresses, including the spun bond springs in several of our own Origins models, that pocket is usually a polypropylene textile. You have to separate it from the steel before either can be reused. That takes time, and time costs money, which is why so many sprung mattresses end up in landfill.

Why recycling is still a postcode lottery

Here’s the uncomfortable bit. The National Bed Federation estimates that around 6.4 million mattresses are thrown away in the UK every year, and about 4.75 million of them still end up in landfill or burnt for energy.

The NBF’s most recent recycling report found that 24% of mattresses were recycled. But once you follow them through the sorting process, the real recycling rate was closer to 14%. The industry targets diverting 75% of old mattresses from landfill by 2028, and there’s still a long way to go.

Where you live makes a big difference. Wales leads the way, but over 40% of councils in the North West still send mattresses to landfill. So taking yours to the tip doesn’t guarantee it will be recycled, even though it feels like the responsible thing to do.

Ask where your old mattress is going

Old mattress removal is now a tick box at most checkouts. What that tick box rarely tells you is where your mattress ends up, and removal and recycling aren’t the same thing. A cheap or “free” removal can simply mean your old mattress is skipped and sent straight to landfill.

So ask the question before you pay. Is it recycled, and by whom? A retailer that recycles properly will tell you straight away.

The NBF also supports a Register of Approved Mattress Recyclers, set up to ensure mattresses diverted from landfill are handled responsibly, so it’s fair to ask whether a firm’s recycler is on it. If nobody can answer, we’d assume the worst.

Then there’s the cheap collection advertised on social media. Councils regularly warn that fly tippers target households with rock-bottom prices to take away furniture and bulky waste.

The NBF goes further, warning that some rogue traders take old mattresses to dump at the roadside, or even stuff them into a new cover and sell them on. Not quite the fresh start you paid for!

If your mattress turns up dumped in a country lane, you can be fined too, because you have the duty of care.

What not to do with an old mattress

We’ll keep this one short. Don’t leave it out the front hoping someone will take it, don’t sneak it into a neighbour’s skip, and please don’t burn it.

Fly tipping is a criminal offence. In England, councils can hand out a fixed penalty of up to £1,000 for fly-tipping, and up to £600 to householders who fail in their duty of care by giving their waste to an unregistered carrier. If it goes to court, the fine is unlimited.

Sadly, it’s a growing problem. Government figures for 2024/25 show councils in England dealt with 1.26 million fly tipping incidents, and single items such as furniture and mattresses accounted for 201,000 of them, up 12% in a year. Many of those are someone’s old bed, with someone else’s council tax paying to clear it up.

If you spot a dumped mattress, you can report it through GOV.UK.

Can you cut up and recycle a mattress yourself?

You can, but honestly, we wouldn’t. A sprung mattress is full of steel, and once the cover is off you’re dealing with sharp wire ends and springs under tension. We’ve cut plenty of mattresses open on our YouTube channel, and it’s a messy job even when you know exactly what you’re looking at.

Even if you manage it, you’re left with a pile of steel, a heap of fillings and nowhere obvious to take half of it. Recyclers do this on a dismantling line, with the right tools and outlets for every material. Leave it to them and save yourself a weekend of plasters!

Buy a mattress that won’t be back at the tip in a few years

The best way to cut mattress waste is to throw fewer mattresses away. That sounds obvious, but the way much of the trade sells mattresses works in the opposite direction.

Cheap one sided mattresses can’t be turned, so you wear out the top layer and never touch the bottom one. We’ve written about this in our guide to the no turn mattress scam, and it’s a big part of why so many mattresses are replaced after a handful of years.

Here’s roughly how long we’d expect each type of mattress to last before dips start to appear, if it isn’t looked after. The difference between the top and bottom of this table is an awful lot of mattresses heading for the tip.

Mattress Type	Fibre Type	Expected Lifespan before potential dips if not maintained	Can the settlement be prevented?
Open Coil / Traditional Bonnell Spring Mattress	Synthetic	2-3 Years	Partly with the addition of a topper and turning monthly
Memory Foam / Mattress in a box Mattress	Synthetic	3-4 years	Not usually - they are one sided so can only be rotated
Hybrid Foam Mattresses	Synthetic	5-6 years	Not usually unless 2-sided
Latex Foam Mattresses	Synthetic/Natural	8-10 years	Yes turning and rotating
Synthetic Pocket Spring Mattresses	Synthetic	8-10 years	Yes by turning & rotating
Natural Fibre Pocket Spring Mattresses	Natural	10 Years +	Yes by turning & rotating

There’s more on why mattresses dip in our guide to settlement and indents. Rolled foam mattresses have their own problems, which we cover in our guide to bed in a box problems.

What’s inside your next mattress matters at the end of its life

In our view, the fewer materials a mattress uses, and the fewer of them are glued together, the easier it is to take apart when the time comes. A mattress built from steel springs, natural fibres, and a Cotton cover breaks down into far cleaner material streams than a stack of bonded foams.

If it were our money and we wanted a mattress that lasts, we’d start with something two-sided. Every mattress in our Origins range can be turned, and the Origins Naturals Comfort has 2,550gsm of fillings, 65% of them natural fibres including British Wool, for £1,300 in king size.

Further up, the Artisan Naturals uses 1,600 pocket springs encased in Cotton calico, with 3,950gsm of fillings that are 85% natural, including 1,500gsm of pure Mohair. It’s £2,180 in king size. The Artisan Bespoke 004 is 100% natural fibre, with Wool, Cotton, Bamboo and Horsetail over calico encased springs, at £2,860 in king size.

If you’re curious about what goes into a mattress and what doesn’t, our honest guide to chemical free and non toxic mattresses is a good next read. And if you’re not sure your current mattress is ready to go at all, check our 10 tell tale signs you need a new mattress first.

Your old mattress checklist

Before you order a new mattress, run through these few things. It’ll take you five minutes and save you a lot of hallway shuffling.

• Decide how your old mattress is going before you order, and book removal at the same time if your new mattress company offers it.
• Ask whether your old mattress will be recycled, and by whom.
• If you’re donating or selling, check the fire safety label is still attached and the mattress is clean.
• If you’re paying anyone else to take it, check them on the Environment Agency’s register of waste carriers.
• If your old bed is a frame, take it apart the day before and get it out of the way.
• Keep sleeping on your old mattress until the new one is in the house.
• On delivery day, strip the bedding off the old mattress so it’s ready to go, and make sure it’s dry.

Mattress disposal FAQs

How do I dispose of a mattress in the UK?

You can have it collected when your new mattress is delivered, book a council bulky waste collection, take it to your local recycling centre, donate or sell it if it’s in good condition, or pay a registered private collection company. We’d recommend booking collection with your new mattress delivery, because it’s usually the cheapest and easiest option.

Can I take a mattress to the tip?

Yes, most household waste recycling centres accept mattresses, and it’s often free for residents. You’ll need a way to transport it, and many areas, including Greater Manchester, require a permit if you visit in a van, a hired van or with a twin axle trailer. Check your council’s rules before you go.

How can I get rid of a mattress for free in the UK?

Your local recycling centre is usually free for residents if you can transport the mattress yourself, and some councils collect mattresses free of charge. If the mattress is clean, undamaged and still has its fire safety label, the British Heart Foundation offers free collection.

Will the council collect my old mattress?

Most councils offer a bulky waste collection that includes mattresses. Charges vary from free to around £76.30 depending on where you live, and you’ll usually need to leave the mattress outside on the collection day.

How much does it cost to get rid of a mattress?

It depends on the route. Our Eco Mattress Recycling service is £60 when you buy a new mattress from us, council collections range from free to around £76.30, and the tip is often free if you can get the mattress there yourself.

Can mattresses be recycled?

Yes. Specialist recyclers dismantle mattresses by hand and separate them into their component materials, such as steel springs, foam and textiles, so each can be reused. Recycling rates still vary a lot across the UK, so it’s worth asking where your mattress will go.

Will a charity take my old mattress?

Some will, including the British Heart Foundation, but only if the mattress is clean, undamaged and still has its fire safety label attached. By law, charities can’t sell upholstered items without that label.

Can I put an old mattress in a skip?

Only in a skip you’ve hired yourself, and only if the skip company agrees to take it, as some charge extra for mattresses or won’t take them at all. Never put one in somebody else’s skip.

Can you take away my old divan base and headboard?

Yes. We can take your old divan base when we deliver, for £60, and a headboard going with it is included in that price. A headboard on its own is also £60, and a mattress and a divan base together are £120. We can’t take bed frames, but once dismantled they usually fit in a car and most recycling centres accept wood and metal.

Do John Ryan take away old mattresses?

Yes. When you buy a new mattress from us, you can add Eco Mattress Recycling for £60. Our delivery team take your old mattress away when they bring the new one, whatever the make or age, and it’s recycled by a specialist recycling centre here in the UK. We can’t take a mattress that’s wet or heavily soiled, because it travels in the same van as other customers’ new beds. We can also take your old divan base, with or without its headboard, or a headboard on its own, for another £60 each, but not bed frames.

Our final thoughts on mattress disposal

If you remember one thing from this guide, make it this: plan for your old mattress when you order the new one. Book removal with your delivery, ask where it’s going, and you’ll never have a mattress living in your hallway again.

If you’d like help choosing a mattress that’ll last, or you’ve got questions about collecting your old one, give our small, friendly team a call on 0161 437 4419 or drop us a message below. We’re always happy to help you get it sorted before the van arrives.