How to get rid of a mattress in Northbrook, IL.

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.

• Chapter 21 of the Northbrook code makes the franchise compulsory and, on its face, allows a charge for exactly the kind of item LRS takes for free. Section 21-20(a): "The village shall enter into an exclusive franchise agreement with no more than one waste disposal firm for the collection of solid waste, and landscape waste from residential dwellings. No person shall hire, retain, use, or engage any waste disposal firm... other than the one selected by the village", and the franchise must require service at least once each week. Section 21-103(a) requires every household to take service from the franchised firm, presumes that every residential dwelling generates refuse, and allows a waiver only on clear and convincing evidence to the village manager. Section 21-103(c) is the bulky-item provision: "Bulky refuse items which cannot be lifted and/or transported with ease, e.g., discarded household furniture, furnishings, fixtures and appliances of all kinds; tree trunks; roots, construction materials, etc., may be removed from the parkway for an additional fee to be set by the waste disposal firm or in an applicable franchise agreement. Such items shall not be placed in waste containers, but may be placed on the parkway, in a safe condition, with doors removed". The code therefore permits a charge; the current franchise agreement gives the first item each week free, which is why both the Village FAQ and LRS say "no additional charge". Section 21-68 limits collection to 6:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, with no Sunday collection and Saturday only where the franchise allows. Section 21-3 makes any violation of the chapter subject to the penalties in section 1-13 of the code. Source Not confirmed: Chapter 21 does not itself set a bulky-item fee or a parkway set-out window; the times come from the Village service page and the fee from the franchise.

• Residential body says Saturday 8–2; same-page footer says 9–1. Both show weekdays 8–4. No Saturday schedule selected. Source
• Locator retains Landfill 33 Saturday 7 a.m.–11 p.m. exactly as printed; implausible closing time requires confirmation. Two Columbus District Office cards are distinct OH and IN addresses, not duplicates. Source
• Illinois EPA recycling page offers a 'Beyond The Bin' ArcGIS map of recycling locations, an Earth911 ZIP locator and the Recycle Coach app (statewide partnership since 2025). No mattress stewardship program mentioned. No statewide mattress stewardship program or landfill ban found on Illinois EPA pages as of 2026-09-22; mattress disposal is handled by local governments. Source
• There is no state mattress recycling program in Illinois, and the absence is worth stating plainly because the four states that have one give residents free drop-off. The Mattress Recycling Council, which runs the Bye Bye Mattress collection network, lists its programs on its own Programs page as operating in California, Connecticut, Oregon and Rhode Island. Illinois is not among them. Three things follow for an Illinois resident: no recycling fee is charged on an Illinois mattress sale, there is no MRC-funded free drop-off anywhere in the state, and nothing obliges a retailer, hauler or municipality to recycle a mattress rather than landfill it. Recycling in Illinois is therefore a private arrangement wherever it exists at all — the drop-offs and recyclers listed on this page are businesses and charities choosing to do it, not a program a resident is entitled to. Source