How to get rid of a mattress in Thornton, CO.

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.

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 we established about this city in particular — including where it runs nothing of its own and residents have to look elsewhere.

• August 29, 2026 event is over as of this review. It offered resident-only, appointment-based recycling for up to four pieces at no charge, with proof of residence and self-unloading. Historical event only. Source Not confirmed: Find a newly announced future event; never imply ongoing free drop-off.
• Unlike most of its Adams County neighbors, Thornton runs its own household trash collection rather than leaving residents to contract privately. The City's Trash & Recycling page prices the service at "$19.25 per month" for one black container with weekly trash collection and bi-weekly recycling, billed on the water bill, with two containers at $24.20 a month, three at $37.30 and four at $50.40, and "a maximum of four containers". Green containers are recycling only and "green containers filled with trash will not be emptied". The page routes bulky items to the separate Click & Haul appointment service rather than to the regular cart collection, so a mattress is not something that can be set out beside the cart. Source Not confirmed: The page does not state a set-out time or a cart placement rule for the regular weekly collection. Not confirmed: It does not say whether the monthly charge is mandatory for every single-family address or whether a household may opt out.
• Thornton's Landfill Day is the City's own drop-off answer, and it charges for a mattress even though everything else is free. The event page gives the venue as "Republic Services Tower Landfill, 19260 E. 88th Ave., Commerce City, CO 80022" and the session as "Sat, Jun 27 2026, 7am - 2pm". For Thornton residents "the gate fee is waived" on non-hazardous debris, with proof of residency required and "One vehicle load per household. Pickup trucks, cars, and small single-axel trailers only." The mattress rule is stated separately and plainly: "Mattresses are subject to an additional fee." The page adds that "Electronics and liquids will not be accepted" and that "All loads must be covered. Restrictions and limitations apply." The City's event-dates page carries a further Landfill Day on "Saturday, November 7", "7 a.m. - 2 p.m.", at the same Tower Landfill site, again with the gate fee waived, no registration and proof of residency required. Source Not confirmed: The amount of the additional mattress fee is not published on the City's page; it says only that one applies. Not confirmed: The page does not say whether box springs are charged the same way as mattresses - only mattresses are named. Not confirmed: It does not say whether a mattress handed over on Landfill Day is recycled or buried.
• Not an option: There is no mattress-specific City program running in Thornton at this review. The City's own 2026 Trash & Recycling Program Event Dates page lists the whole year's program - Click & Haul bulky collections at "$72 per collection for 6 cubic yards" or "$121 or more" for larger loads, an Electronic Recycling drop-off on "Saturday, October 3", "10 a.m. - 2 p.m." at "Pedal Point's facility located at 3251 Lewiston St., Ste. 10, Aurora, CO" for "$15 per vehicle" or "$25" with multiple monitors, a Household Hazardous Waste program at "Veolia's facility located at 9131 E. 96th Ave., Henderson, CO" with a "$30 facility fee" voucher, Fall Leaf Drop-off on "Saturday, October 31, November 14" at "Thornton's Infrastructure Maintenance Center 12450 Washington Street" at "no charge", and Landfill Day on "Saturday, November 7" - and no mattress drop-off or mattress recycling event appears anywhere on it. The City's standalone mattress drop-off event page, which previously carried the August 2026 resident-only recycling day, now returns "Access Denied" and is not reachable. Colorado has no statewide mattress recycling law of the California or Connecticut kind, so nothing backfills this. Source Not confirmed: Whether Thornton intends to repeat the mattress drop-off event in 2027 is not published; the event page is no longer reachable to check.
• Thornton's Code Compliance page sets the rules that decide whether a mattress can sit outside while a resident waits for a collection. It states that "Any accumulation of garbage, trash, appliances, old furniture, or scrap material must be removed from the property", so a mattress left in a yard or driveway is itself a code violation rather than a neutral holding position. On containers it says "Trash containers should be stored in areas away from the front yard or driveway, like inside a garage or shed, behind a fence or alongside the back of a house", and notes that "City trash container storage concerns are addressed by Environmental Services staff". Code Compliance is contactable at 303-538-7517 or code@thorntonco.gov. Source Not confirmed: The page cites no code section number for the accumulation rule and states no fine or penalty amount. Not confirmed: It does not give an earliest hour at which items may be put out for a scheduled collection; the Click & Haul page's 24-hour window is the only published set-out limit. Not confirmed: Nothing is published about apartment or HOA restrictions on bulky set-outs in Thornton.

• Resources page still labels its rate link 2023 Gate Rate Sheet, while the separate Disposal Rates page links a PDF explicitly titled 2026. Preserve the link-label discrepancy rather than interpreting every resource as current. Source
• CDPHE list of residential materials prohibited from Colorado solid waste sites: lead-acid batteries, free liquids, used oil, waste tires, electronic devices/computers. Mattresses not listed. No statewide mattress stewardship program or landfill ban found on CDPHE pages as of 2026-09-22; mattress disposal is handled by local governments. Source