2026 LOCAL GUIDE
How to get rid of a mattress in Athens, AL.
6 local options.
Compare mattress pickup, recycling, and disposal options—with costs, conditions, and sources below.
See all 6 local optionsNOW AVAILABLE!
Athens Now Offers
Mattress Recycling Pickup.
Book a recycling pickup
A Bedder World is our recycling partner.
Limestone County, Alabama · 27 options, 8 free · checked Sep 29, 2026
Researched from each provider's own pages and approved for publication by Tim Sumerfield, who has worked in mattress recycling for over a decade. How we check these listings
6 ways to get rid of a mattress in Athens
Everything we could find for this city. Click any one of them for the full details.
- 1A Bedder World Mattress Recycling - Athens (our Athens mattress recycling partner)Easily book a curbside or in-home pickup for mattress recycling throughout AlabamaBook pickup online
- 2City curbside pickup in AthensBook a date with the city and leave it at the curb$150
- 3Drop-off options near Athens1 place that takes mattresses, nearest 17 miles awayFee not published
- 4Junk removal options serving Athens4 national companies that come to your doorQuoted by address
- 5Store haul-away options in Athens20 retailers remove the old mattress on deliveryFree at 8
- 6Donation options in Athens2 charities checked, 1 will not take a mattressFree
Also on this page: Athens rules · Limestone County · Alabama rules · common questions · what to check first
1
A Bedder World Mattress Recycling - Athens
Use our Athens mattress recycling partner, A Bedder World.
A Bedder World is a curbside and in-home mattress pickup service, recycling mattresses for homes and businesses throughout Alabama. They take it from the curb or carry it out of any room, and you book online and see the full price before you confirm.
- Athens division
- Curbside or any room in the house
- 90% of materials recovered
Metro areas in all 50 states; book online. Small-town and rural coverage not stated.
From $89A pickup fee plus a recycling fee on each piece, so this is where it starts, not a price per mattress. Your total is shown at the booking step before you confirm.
Book recycling pickupRun by the founder of this site. Every other option here is listed so you can compare.
Prices, conditions and sources
Curbside or inside pickup; stairs and long carries cost extra. The price is a pickup fee plus a recycling fee on each piece, so it is a starting price rather than a rate per mattress, and a second piece collected on the same visit costs less than the first. The total for your items is shown at the booking step before you confirm. Owned by the operator of this site.
$89 — Pickup starts at $89. The price is a pickup fee plus a recycling fee on each piece; the total for your items is shown at the booking step.
Not confirmed: The recycling fee charged on each piece is not published separately; it is included in the total shown at the booking step.
A Bedder World states it serves homes and businesses, listing bulk removal for hotels, apartments and commercial customers alongside residential pickup. Source
A Bedder World states it covers 1,000+ cities across all 50 states, with next-day pickup available. Source
A Bedder World states it removes the mattress from anywhere on the property, so pickup is from the curb or from inside the home. Source
A Bedder World states 90% of mattress materials are recovered and commits to sending none to landfill. Source
A Bedder World states it has recycled more than 1 million mattresses. Source
2City curbside pickup in Athens
Athens’s own collection service takes the mattress from outside your home. You normally have to book a date in advance and follow their wrapping rules.
City of Athens bulk trash collection (four cubic yards a week, then $150.00 a half trailer load)
Residential customers of the city sanitation department, for waste generated from their own dwelling and residential property. Participation is mandatory under § 46-91: "Every person, household, business, industry or property within the city limits generating solid waste shall participate in and subscribe to the waste collection services operated by the sanitation department." Contractor waste is excluded by definition in § 46-92 and by § 46-97(a), which limits the service to items generated from the customer's own dwelling.
Conditions and source
Bulk trash is "items such as furniture, appliances, limbs and yard waste (bagged grass clippings, shrubbery trimmings) that are generated by the homeowner or tenant", for things that will not fit in the cart. It must be at the curb by 6:00 a.m. on the scheduled day, and residents are asked not to place items within three feet of any object. Section 46-97(b) states that "This collection method is not available for items of over eight feet in length and/or four inches in diameter." The free volume is "approximately four cubic yards per week, approximately 12 feet long by three feet wide by three feet high"; beyond that the department will remove the excess only if the resident arranges it and pays before collection, and a resident who does neither has five days after notice to clear it. Appliances need doors removed and Freon professionally recovered. Sanitation is at 256-233-8747. For anything the city will not take, the department names the Republic Services transfer station at 16100 BFI Lane and asks residents to call 256-729-8505 first.
Not confirmed: Neither the city pages nor the ordinance names a mattress; the eight-foot and four-inch limit in § 46-97(b) is written for limbs and the city does not say how it applies to furniture or bedding
Not confirmed: The current monthly residential rate is not published: the code prints $22.58 for 2014–2015 with three percent annual increases thereafter
From the provider’s own page, checked Sep 29, 2026. Not confirmed by phone.
$150
Visit siteA Bedder World collects from the curb too, or from any room in the house — see option 1.
3Drop-off options near Athens
Places that accept mattresses if you can get it there yourself. Distance is measured from the center of Athens. Some accept residents of their own city or county only, so check before you drive.
Nearest
Habitat River Valley ReStore mattress donation drop-off
Donors bringing goods to the Huntsville ReStore; the affiliate serves Madison, Limestone and Jackson Counties.
Conditions and source
Open Monday-Saturday 7:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m., closed Sunday. The store lists 'Furniture and Mattresses' among commonly donated items it accepts.
Not confirmed: No mattress condition requirements (stains, tears, law tag) are published.
From the provider’s own page, checked Sep 22, 2026. Not confirmed by phone.
Habitat for Humanity of the River Valley ReStore (Huntsville)
Fee not published
Visit siteNo way to move it yourself? See pickup services →
4Junk removal options serving Athens
Companies that come to your home and carry the mattress out, so you need no vehicle. The prices below are starting prices unless stated — stairs, box springs and extra items add to them.
1-800-GOT-JUNK? mattress removal
Franchise network; coverage varies by ZIP (some ZIPs not serviced).
Conditions and source
In-person estimate before work; single items priced by size, minimum charge applies (amount not published). Donates or recycles where possible.
Not confirmed: Coverage varies by ZIP.
Not confirmed: No published mattress price.
Not confirmed: Recycling/donation not guaranteed per job.
From the provider’s own page, checked Sep 22, 2026. Not confirmed by phone.
Ask provider
Visit siteCollege HUNKS mattress removal
Franchise network; coverage varies by ZIP.
Conditions and source
Free estimate at start of job; price depends on location and job. Mattress recycled or disposed of; few donation centers take mattresses.
Not confirmed: Coverage varies by ZIP.
Not confirmed: No published price.
Not confirmed: Recycling vs landfill not stated per location.
From the provider’s own page, checked Sep 22, 2026. Not confirmed by phone.
Ask provider
Visit siteJunk King mattress disposal
100+ franchise locations in U.S. and Canada; coverage varies by ZIP.
Conditions and source
Free onsite/photo/phone estimate; pricing varies by location. Works with local recyclers and donation partners.
Not confirmed: Coverage varies by ZIP.
Not confirmed: No published mattress price on primary pages.
Not confirmed: Per-location recycling outcome not stated.
From the provider’s own page, checked Sep 22, 2026. Not confirmed by phone.
Ask provider
Visit siteThe other 1 companies
The Junkluggers mattress removal
Franchise network; find a local Junkluggers; coverage varies by ZIP.
Conditions and source
Free up-front estimate; most locations offer same-day pickup. Donates/recycles/repurposes when possible.
Not confirmed: Coverage varies by ZIP.
Not confirmed: No published price.
Not confirmed: Disposal of non-reusable mattresses not described.
From the provider’s own page, checked Sep 22, 2026. Not confirmed by phone.
Ask provider
Visit site5Store haul-away options in Athens
If you are replacing the mattress, the shop will often take the old one when they deliver. Usually one old mattress per new one, and only if it is dry and clean.
- Casper
- Free
- Casper mattress order with In-Home Delivery & Setup ($249), continental US; one used mattress per mattress ordered. Sanitary condition judged on site; box springs must be removable intact. Source
- Purple
- Free
- Non-California: free with Rejuvenate mattresses; $200 add-on for select Essentials/Restore mattresses. Mattress only (no box springs); unsanitary mattresses may be refused. Source
- Raymour & Flanigan
- Free
- New mattress purchase with delivery; free with mattress set of $500+. Safe, sanitary, free of rips and tears. Source
- Rooms To Go
- Free
- New mattress with full service delivery. Not heavily soiled; not with Doorway Delivery. Source
The other 15 retailers
- Saatva
- Free
- New Saatva mattress with white glove delivery; select removal at checkout; continental US. Clean, undamaged mattress/foundation only; no adjustable bases, frames, waterbed or Sleep Number bases. Source
- Sam's Club
- Free
- Select mattresses with White Glove Delivery; free White Glove for Plus members buying online; not PR/AK/HI. Haul-away on request; biohazard items refused. Source
- Tempur-Pedic direct
- Free
- Mattress (not TEMPUR-Cloud), power base or foundation bought directly from Tempur-Pedic; like-for-like. Adult 18+ present; bedding removed; unsanitary/heavily soiled items may be refused. Source
- Amazon
- $79.99
- Purchased with an eligible mattress; available in select cities. One mattress or box spring; no bodily fluids or bed bugs; adult present. Source
- Avocado Green Mattress
- Ask provider
- Avocado In-Home Delivery & Setup order in select areas; must buy the equivalent item. Subject to local health regulations; no bed frames/furniture. Source
- Bob's Discount Furniture
- Ask provider
- New mattress/foundation delivered via BOBtastic White Glove Delivery. Safe and sanitary condition. Source
- Costco
- Ask provider
- Costco mattress delivery in select areas; one-for-one like item. Not damaged, soiled or infested; ready at delivery; additional fees may apply. Source
- Helix Sleep
- $219
- Helix order with In-Home Setup & Removal selected at checkout; contiguous 48 states. Stained/soiled items may be refused. Source
- IKEA
- $30
- Mattress or box spring bought in store with in-home delivery, in select markets / ZIP codes in the continental US; not online orders. Removal may be on a different date from delivery. Source
- Living Spaces
- Ask provider
- Full Service Delivery; request at checkout. Stained/soiled mattresses not eligible. Source
- Macys
- $25
- Macy's mattress with White Glove ($125) or Room of Choice ($75) delivery; one-for-one. No stained, soiled or bed-bug items; no frames/adjustable bases/furniture. Source
- Mattress Firm
- Ask provider
- Mattress ordered for delivery from Mattress Firm; one-for-one. Box spring removed only if new order includes one; no wet, unsanitary or infested bedding; no furniture. Source
- Mattress Warehouse
- $29.99
- With delivery of a new purchase; add before delivery date. Mattresses/box springs only; stained items excluded. Source
- Resident (Nectar, DreamCloud)
- $199
- Nectar or DreamCloud order with paid White Glove Delivery, where offered. Removal at the provider's discretion; may be unavailable in some areas; CA/RI/CT add a state-mandated fee. Source
- Sleep Number
- Ask provider
- With a Sleep Number bed delivery: included with Ultimate delivery ($350) or added for $100 with Premium/Doorstep; one disposal per Smart Bed delivered. Adult 18+ present; no bed bugs/extreme soiling; Doorstep customers must put the old bed outside. Source
6Donation options in Athens
Most charities will not take a used mattress. These are the ones we checked, including the ones that say no.
- The Salvation Army (satruck.org): accepted-items list includes 'Mattresses' and beds; also says local ordinances and need vary by location and to call 1-800-SA-TRUCK to confirm what a local center accepts. Source
- Doesn’t take mattresses. Habitat for Humanity national ReStore guide: 'Mattresses and box springs are not accepted.' Source
Policies vary by branch. Call before you carry one over — we asked each of the big three directly: Goodwill, the Salvation Army and Habitat for Humanity.
What Athens itself says
What we established about this city in particular — including where it runs nothing of its own and residents have to look elsewhere.
- The free county dump day that Athens residents use is published today with a designation that expires tomorrow. Limestone County's Trash Attack Days page still gives the schedule as the first Saturday of April and the first Saturday of October, 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., at the Republic Services Transfer Station, 16100 BFI Lane, Athens, AL 35611. It is county residents only, "a trailer or pickup truck load of debris" each, with proof of residency such as a current utility bill; contractors may not use it; a maximum of four automobile tires; and appliances containing Freon need the compressor removed or a professional certificate. The same page states that the program runs "through September 30, 2026". Read on September 29, 2026, that leaves the designation live for one more day while the next scheduled day, the first Saturday of October, falls on October 3, 2026 — after the stated end. The county has not published a renewal or a replacement date. Source Not confirmed: Whether the October 2026 Trash Attack Day goes ahead is not established: the county still advertises the first Saturday of October but its own designation reads "through September 30, 2026", which falls before that date Not confirmed: The page's exclusions cover tires and Freon appliances and say nothing about bedding, so a mattress is neither named as accepted nor refused
- The Athens sanitation FAQs answer the large-item question from the department itself, and name the one place to take what the city will not: "Will the City collect large household items? Yes, the City picks up furniture, appliances, and yard waste generated by the resident. We will not pick up anything generated by a contractor. Appliances must have the doors removed for the safety and protection of small children and the Freon must be professionally removed." On brush, "the City collects limbs and brush generated at the residence by the resident. The amount picked up is limited to 4 cubic yards per week", and "Any work performed by a contractor, anyone paid or given material for work performed, will not be collected by the City." Everything household must fit the city cart with the lid closed, and a second cart is billed monthly with the sanitation fee. For anything else the department gives one address: "BFI operates a transfer station on US Highway 72 W, Athens, AL 35611. The facility's address is: 16100 BFI Lane, Athens, AL 35611. Please call ahead 256-729-8505 to ask if they will accept the material that you need to dispose of." Source Not confirmed: The department's own answer lists furniture, appliances and yard waste and does not mention bedding of any kind Not confirmed: The FAQ sends residents to the Republic Services transfer station without a rate, an opening time or a statement of what it accepts, asking them to telephone first
What Limestone County offers
Established for the county as a whole, so it applies across Athens and its neighbors.
- The same transfer station is the only disposal site anyone in Limestone County, Alabama is pointed to on an ordinary day, and no one publishes its gate price. The City of Athens FAQ "Where can I take waste that the City will not pickup?" answers with the "BFI transfer station" at "16100 BFI Lane, Athens, AL 35611", and adds: "Please call ahead 256-729-8505 to ask if they will accept the material that you need to dispose of." The county's Trash Attack Days page names the same site as the "Republic Services Transfer Station" at the same address. A council telling residents to call first is a fair warning that acceptance is decided item by item. Source Not confirmed: Neither the city nor the county publishes a fee for the transfer station on an ordinary day — no per-ton rate, no minimum, no per-item charge. Not confirmed: Neither page names a mattress among what the transfer station will or will not take, and the city explicitly tells residents to call and ask, so acceptance is not established. Not confirmed: Republic Services publishes no rate sheet for this site on its own pages, so no gate price is established for it.
- Limestone County, ALABAMA states its refusal of bulky waste in one sentence, and puts the job back on the householder. Limestone County Solid Waste: "The Limestone County Solid Waste Department provides Automated Solid Waste Collection Service for the residents of unincorporated Limestone County only. The residential collection service is established upon application for utility services with Athens Utilities. Monthly billing for residential garbage service is included on the residential electric bill." "All residential customer routes for unincorporated Limestone County will be serviced weekly, including customers who infrequently have garbage for collection." Then the sentence that answers the question: "Furniture, appliances, bulk, items, leaves, limbs, yard waste, and landscaping/construction debris are not collected in the unincorporated areas of Limestone County. It is the responsibility of the property owner to dispose of all bulk items. Curbside garbage pickup is for residential household garbage only." Office: 1301 N. Jefferson St., Athens, AL 35611, 256-233-6407, Monday through Thursday 8am until 3pm. The department's own collection guidelines page adds the price, "$18 per billing cycle and is collected through Athens Utilities", and repeats the cart rule: "Place only food, paper products, and items usually placed in kitchen or bathroom garbage cans". So a mattress has no county curbside route in Limestone County at all, incorporated or not. This is Athens, ALABAMA in Limestone County — limestonecounty-al.gov — not Athens, Georgia, Athens, Ohio or Athens, Greece. Source Not confirmed: The refusal sentence names furniture, appliances and "bulk, items" (the page's own typography) but never the word mattress, so the county's refusal of a mattress is by category rather than by name. Not confirmed: The county does not say where an unincorporated resident should take a bulk item instead; it only says the responsibility is the property owner's.
Alabama mattress disposal rules
- ADEM recycling program page covers SWRMMA (2008): 25% waste-reduction goal, $1/ton statewide disposal fee, local recycling grants and funds to clean up illegal dump sites. No mattress-specific content. No statewide mattress stewardship program or landfill ban found on ADEM pages as of 2026-09-22; mattress disposal is handled by local governments. Source
Questions people ask about Athens
Is there free mattress disposal in Athens?
Yes: Casper removal with In-Home Delivery & Setup; Havertys complimentary mattress removal; Purple In-Home Setup with mattress removal. Check eligibility and conditions before you go.
How much does mattress pickup cost in Athens?
Published starting prices: A Bedder World mattress pickup from $89. Stairs, box springs, and extra items can add fees.
Will the store take my old mattress when I buy a new one?
Several retailers offer haul-away with a new mattress delivery, usually with conditions: Casper, Havertys, Purple, Raymour & Flanigan, Rooms To Go, Saatva.
Are there state rules for mattress disposal in Alabama?
ADEM recycling program page covers SWRMMA (2008): 25% waste-reduction goal, $1/ton statewide disposal fee, local recycling grants and funds to clean up illegal dump sites. No mattress-specific content. No statewide mattress stewardship program or landfill ban found on ADEM pages as of 2026-09-22; mattress disposal is handled by local governments.
What to check before you go
- Say if the mattress is wet, stained, or has any sign of pests — that is the usual reason one is turned away.
- Ask what the total will be. Box springs, stairs, and extra items are often charged separately.
- Check you qualify. Many sites serve only residents of their own city or county.