How to get rid of a mattress in Covington, GA.

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.

• Covington runs its own mandatory sanitation service, publishes the rate, allows two bulk items a week and never says whether a mattress is one of them. The city's sanitation page states 'The City of Covington provides a 95-gallon container to each residential unit served. Each container is numbered and assigned to a specific address. Sanitation services are provided for all residents within the city limits of Covington', and participation is compulsory: 'All residents of the city, whether residing in an apartment or a single-unit home, and all establishments (including for profit or nonprofit and charitable) with a location of any type within the city shall utilize the city's sanitation services, as provided by the city or its contractor', citing City Code of Ordinances Section 8.04.090, Section A. The price: 'Curbside service is provided for $25.00 per month and is included on your monthly utility bill. Senior citizens, aged 65 an over, pay $16.50 per month for sanitation services. Extra trash cans can be leased for an additional $8.00 per month.' The set-out window is tight at both ends: 'Your container should be placed at the curb no later than 6:00 a.m. on the day of your rollout service and removed by midnight that same day. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR CONTAINER AT THE CURBSIDE ALL WEEK', and 'You may not use any container for household garbage other than the one provided for you by the City of Covington. Other containers left at the curb are considered trash, and may be picked up and disposed of.' On bulk waste the page gives the rules as 'Two items per week. Includes televisions, some appliances, furniture, computers, etc. Does not include refrigerators/freezers UNLESS doors are removed and refrigerants are removed from appliances and tagged for verification, construction or remodeling debris like wood, carpets, toilets, sheetrock, etc. Also does not include bags of household garbage that do not fit in the trash receptacle.' Yard waste runs to six cubic yards a week, with a minimum $50 fee for excessive yard debris removal arranged in advance at 770-385-2000. The city also names two drop-offs and a dumping rule: 'There are two Recycling Centers near the city limits of Covington: Piper Rd. / Hwy. 36 Center at 10545 Hwy. 36 Bypass / Flat Shoals Rd. Center at 11575 Covington Bypass Rd. Neighborhood Recycling Centers are not equipped to handle large volumes of waste materials from one source. One level truck load (2 cubic yards) or a small trailer of an equal amount of bulk or yard waste per household per week is acceptable. Large truck loads and multi-loads of bulk waste will not be accepted and should be taken directly to the landfill. The charge is $35.00 / Ton.' It adds 'Littering fines are up to $1200.00', 'It is unlawful to dump garbage, recyclables or refuse of any type at the gate of any Center when it is closed', 'It is unlawful to dump in any dumpster located within the Covington City limits', and the load-covering rule 'COVER YOUR LOADS FOR CLEANER ROADS'. Source Not confirmed: Mattresses are named neither in the city's bulk-waste inclusions nor in its exclusions, so whether the two-item weekly allowance covers one is not established. Not confirmed: The city does not say whether a mattress and its box spring count as one of the two weekly items or two. Not confirmed: The two Recycling Centers are given as addresses only: no operator, hours, residency rule, fee or mattress policy is published for either, and the city does not say whether they take a mattress. Not confirmed: The landfill to which the $35.00 per ton charge applies is not named, and no address or hours are given for it. Not confirmed: The ordinance behind the 'up to $1200.00' littering fine is not cited on the page.
• Covington's residential sanitation FAQ names the contractor and explains what happens when a household puts out more than two bulk items. 'Latham Home Sanitation is contracted with the City of Covington to manage our waste and recycling within the City limits. However, if you have an issue or problem, please contact our Customer Service representatives at 770-385-2000.' The bulk rule is spelled out with its overflow consequence: 'TWO household bulk items are collected each week. If more than two are placed at the curb, additional items will be collected the following week in increments of two each week.' Other standing reminders: 'Place trash cans at the curb the evening before your collection day'; 'No construction/demolition, remodeling debris is collected inside or outside the container (or) household yard waste/trimmings'; 'LHS is not contracted to collect overflow bags, when done, bags are collected as a courtesy'; 'All cans should be accessible for the automated system, cans should be within 5 feet of the curb, not obstructed by a parked car, mailbox, fence, shrub/tree, or any other structure'; and 'You have a 24 hour window following your pick-up day to report a skip.' On bagging the city invokes law rather than preference: 'It is a State of Georgia and City of Covington ordinance that all citizens should bag their trash.' Latham observes two holidays a year, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, when routes in those weeks run a day late; otherwise all routes run on their regular days. New occupants are told to use the City of Covington can already at the house rather than expect a new one. Source Not confirmed: The FAQ does not name mattresses among bulk items, and does not say whether a mattress counts as one item or two. Not confirmed: No fee is published for setting out more than two bulk items; the excess is deferred to later weeks rather than charged, and the FAQ does not say whether there is any limit to how long a mattress may wait at the curb. Not confirmed: The state and city ordinances requiring bagged trash are referred to but not cited.
• The City of Covington's own sanitation flyer defines a bulk item item by item, and a mattress is on neither of its lists. Issued jointly with Latham Home Sanitation, the flyer states 'As part of the City's contract with Latham Home Sanitation, residents can dispose of TWO BULK ITEMS EACH WEEK in addition to their regular can pick up', and defines them: 'Bulk items are defined as furniture, ranges, washers, sofas, car seats, play equipment, chairs, tables and other large items, which cannot reasonably be placed in a 95-gallon rollout cart. If an item can practically fit inside your receptacle, you must place it in there for pickup.' Its 'NOT INCLUDED IN BULK WASTE PICKUP' list is equally itemized: 'Tires, Batteries, Yard debris, Construction materials, Propane tanks, Windows & sliding glass doors, Pool tables, Safes, Trampolines, Mirrors and panes of glass, Swing sets, Pianos, Any items too heavy or awkward that they cannot be safely lifted', plus 'Refrigerants should be removed from appliances and tagged for verification'. Household garbage must be bagged and inside the receptacle - 'Bagged trash doesn't count as a bulk item & if it is left outside of the receptacle, it may not be picked up' - and the placement rules are 'Place trash cans at the curb the evening before your collection day' and 'All cans should be accessible for the automated system and cans should be within 5 feet of the curb, not obstructed by a parked car, mailbox, fence, shrub/tree, or any other structure.' Skips must be reported to Customer Service at 770-385-2000 within 24 hours of the pickup day. Source Not confirmed: A mattress appears on neither the inclusion list nor the exclusion list; the only clause that might reach it is the catch-all 'other large items, which cannot reasonably be placed in a 95-gallon rollout cart', and the city does not say that it does. Not confirmed: The exclusion of 'Any items too heavy or awkward that they cannot be safely lifted' is not quantified, so whether a king-size mattress falls foul of it is unknown. Not confirmed: The flyer is dated 2022 and the city has not published a later itemized definition; whether the lists still stand is not established, though the current sanitation page repeats the two-item allowance.
• Covington's solid waste code sets the curb hours and the penalty, and never mentions a mattress or a bulky item at all. Chapter 8.04 of the Covington Municipal Code, in the version current on June 29, 2026, makes the city's service compulsory at section 8.04.090(D): 'Except as otherwise expressly authorized in this section, all residents of the city, whether residing in an apartment or a single-unit home, and all establishments (including for profit or nonprofit and charitable) with a location of any type within the city, whether holding a business license or not, shall utilize the city's sanitation services, as provided by the city or its contractor providing such service, and pay applicable fees imposed therefor'. The curb window is at 8.04.090(J): roll carts 'shall be placed at said locations no earlier than seven p.m. on the day preceding the collection day, and shall be removed from said locations within twenty-four (24) hours next following collection. No roll cart shall be placed for collection in a location that obstructs gutters, drains, walkways or streets.' Subsection (L) sets additional roll carts at 'an additional service charge of eight dollars ($8.00) per month', and the same rule for recycling bins appears at 8.04.080(H). Collection policies and the fee schedule are not in the code at all: 8.04.090(A) leaves it to the mayor and council to 'establish policies and procedures for the city's garbage collection and sanitation services' by resolution, and (B) to 'establish a schedule of fees and charges... by resolution or agreement between the city and its residential service contractors available on the city's website'. The enforcement section, 8.04.110, states 'It shall be unlawful to place solid waste materials of a kind or in any manner except as expressly permitted under this Article 3', gives a first offender notice and 'a reasonable time, not to exceed ten (10) days, to remedy the offending condition or practice', and provides that if nothing is done, or on a later violation, 'the offender shall be cited to Covington Municipal Court, and, upon conviction of said offense, subject to the general penalty provided in Section 1.12.010 of this code'. Subsection (D) makes it joint: 'Property owners and tenants of rental property shall be jointly and severally responsible for proper disposal of solid waste originating from property owned or occupied by either of them and jointly liable for violations of this Article.' Separately, Article 4 requires every premises, vacant or occupied, to be kept clear of refuse, with ten days to comply after notice and each further day a separate offense under 8.04.150. Source Not confirmed: The words 'bulky' and 'mattress' do not appear anywhere in chapter 8.04; the two-item weekly bulk allowance exists only in the policies the city publishes under 8.04.090(A) and (B), not in the code. Not confirmed: The maximum fine under the general penalty at Section 1.12.010 was not read, so the amount a Covington dumping conviction carries is not established. Not confirmed: The resolution or contractor agreement that fixes the current sanitation fees was not located on the city's website; the $25.00 monthly figure comes from the city's sanitation page rather than from the code.

• Georgia EPD recycling resources page sends residents to Earth911's ZIP-code locator and the Georgia Recycling Coalition. It notes scrap tires are banned from Georgia landfills but lists no mattress rule. No statewide mattress stewardship program or landfill ban found on Georgia EPD pages as of 2026-09-22; mattress disposal is handled by local governments. Source