How to get rid of a mattress in Swansea, 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.

• Swansea states its exclusivity on its utilities page, and in the same breath gives the one nearby disposal price it publishes - for yard waste, not furniture. Under Public Utilities the Village lists "Garbage & Recycling - Republic Services (618) 656-6883" and states "Republic Services is the exclusive garbage hauler for the residents of Swansea." On yard waste it adds: "If you only have one or two bags, you may take them to St. Louis Composting for about a dollar a bag. They are located at the corner of Frank Scott Parkway and route 158 in Belleville. St. Louis Composting number is (618) 233-2007. The address is 5841 Mine Haul Road Belleville, IL." That is a compost site and takes no furniture. Sewer is the Village's own service at (618) 234-0044; water is Illinois American Water; the Village Hall is 1444 Boul Avenue, Swansea, IL, 618-234-0044. Source Not confirmed: The Village names no drop-off site that takes household bulk waste or mattresses; the only self-haul route it publishes is a compost facility for yard waste.
• Swansea's refuse ordinance explains why the plastic wrapping rule matters and sets a set-out window far tighter than most. Sec. 51.45 makes collection compulsory: "Within the village, all owners and occupiers of residential structures of one, two or three dwelling units, including mobile or manufactured homes on private lots, and mobile or manufactured homes in participating mobile home parks shall provide for the collection and disposal of accumulations of refuse, recyclable material or yard waste at least once every 14 days, by the refuse collector licensed by the village, pursuant to Sec. 51.02(A)". Sec. 51.46 forbids any other disposal: "For single-family dwellings and multi-family dwellings of two or three units... it shall be unlawful to dispose of any refuse or yard waste anywhere in the village, and placed for collection as herein prescribed; provided, however, that, nothing in this section shall prevent individual composting of yard wastes, or the recycling of materials elsewhere within the village, by taking those materials to a recycling drop-off location which agrees to accept same." Sec. 51.28 is the rule a bare mattress breaks: "It is unlawful to place or permit to remain anywhere in the village any refuse, other than leaves and grass or recyclable material placed in a recycling bin, unless said refuse is placed in a tightly-covered or enclosed container" - which is exactly why the Village's bulk sheet requires a mattress to be wrapped in plastic with the ends taped closed. Sec. 51.29 adds that it is unlawful "to cause or permit to accumulate anywhere in the village, except when in a covered or enclosed container, any refuse or other such material that can be blown away by the wind." The set-out window is Sec. 51.51(B): containers go out "immediately behind the curb, at the street or at the alley lot line, as designated by the Board of Trustees, no earlier than 7:00 p.m. on the day preceding the day on which collection is scheduled. The empty containers shall be removed as soon as possible but, in no event later than 7:00 p.m. on the day of collection." Sec. 51.51(A) requires curbside pickup for all single-family dwellings and multi-family buildings of three or fewer units. Sec. 51.47 pushes remodelling debris out of the household stream entirely: material "which comprise more than one cubic yard by volume, shall be disposed of by the property owner or occupant of the premises making arrangements with any company licensed by the village to provide non-residential solid waste collection and disposal services", at the owner's cost. Sec. 51.27 bars using anyone else's bin or a park receptacle to dispose of household waste, and Sec. 51.30 lets the village remove offending material and "recover the reasonable costs of removal from the owner of the real estate or other responsible party in accordance with 65 ILCS 5/11-20-13." Source Not confirmed: Chapter 51 contains no bulk item or large item provision at all, so the ordinance sets no allowance, fee or notice period for one - those come only from the Village's published Republic sheet. Not confirmed: Sec. 51.28 requires refuse to be in a tightly-covered or enclosed container, which a wrapped mattress arguably satisfies and a bare one does not; the code does not address large items expressly.
• Getting it wrong in Swansea is a daily offense with a published range. Sec. 51.99 reads: "Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision of this chapter shall be fined not less than $20, nor more than $750, for each offense. A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues." That covers the set-out window in Sec. 51.51(B), the covered-container rule in Sec. 51.28, the wind-blown refuse rule in Sec. 51.29 and the compulsory-collection rule in Sec. 51.45 alike. The same block of the code also sets the rules for anyone in an apartment block of four or more units, who is outside the residential license entirely: Sec. 51.65 requires "all owners and occupiers of non-residential structures, multi-family structures of four or more dwelling units and mobile or manufactured homes in non-participation licensed manufactured home parks" to arrange collection "at least once every 14 days, by a refuse collector licensed by the village pursuant to Sec. 51.02(B)"; Sec. 51.66 makes it unlawful for them "to dispose of any garbage and rubbish or compostable material anywhere in the village, except through placement of such material in appropriate containers serviced by a refuse collector licensed by the village"; and Sec. 51.67 requires "tightly-covered metal or other non-corrodible, water-tight containers" set out "no earlier than 7:00 p.m. on the day preceding the day on which collection is scheduled" and removed "no later than 7:00 p.m. on the day of collection." Sec. 51.68 requires dumpsters to be screened in accordance with zoning regulations. So a Swansea tenant in a building of four or more units has no right to the Village's residential bulk arrangement at all - their mattress is the property manager's dumpster contract, not Republic's residential route. Source Not confirmed: The code does not say how a tenant in a four-or-more-unit building may lawfully dispose of a mattress if the building's dumpster contract does not cover bulk items.
• Not an option: Swansea sits inside St. Clair Township, and the township does run a free drop-off site for its residents - but it refuses household trash in terms, so the Nameoki Township model that gives Granite City a free twice-yearly large item pickup does not repeat here. The township's Yard Waste Drop Off page says: "St. Clair Township provides a yard waste drop-off site for all TOWNSHIP RESIDENTS ONLY including the residents in the Village of Swansea. The following yard waste is accepted; leaves, small limbs (less than 6 feet in length less than 4 inches in diameter), shrub trimmings, twigs, garden waste, grass clippings, tree stumps and small compostable material." The refusal is explicit: "We do NOT accept; trees or limbs larger that 6 feet in length or larger than 4 inches in diameter, railroad ties or construction material. NO household trash, food waste, diseased plants or gravel of any sort can be dropped. Any bagged or contained material must be emptied!" and "NO COMMERCIAL LAWN CUTTERS, LANDSCAPERS OR TREE TIMMERS!" Hours are "Mon thru Sat 7am-5pm from March 1- May 31 and Sept 1-Dec 31". The township office is at 107 Service St., Swansea, IL 62226, 618-233-3437. A mattress is household trash and is not accepted. Source
• Not an option: St. Clair Township's other free drop-off is for metal and electronics, and it will not solve a mattress either - though it is worth knowing about for the bed frame. The township states: "St. Clair Township hosts a Metal & Electronics Recycle Drive on the 3rd Sat of each month except Dec & Jan. See flyer for items that are accepted. Questions can be answered by Power Recycling 618-344-7232. Note: there is a $20-$40 cash fee for tube TV or monitor disposal. Flat screen TV's or monitors do not require a fee." Metal and electronics only; a mattress is neither, and a metal bed frame would be the only part of a bed this drive could take. The township's full service list is Road Department, Sewer Service, General Assistance, this Metal & Electronics drive, the Yard Waste Drop Off, PaintCare Recycling, electrical aggregation, senior services and three parks - there is no bulk item pickup, clean-up day or furniture drop-off anywhere in it. Source Not confirmed: The accepted-items flyer for the metal and electronics drive was not read, so whether a metal bed frame is expressly named is not established.
• With no free allowance from the Village and no township route, a Swansea household paying an unpublished Republic bulk fee has one published alternative: the county's landfills. The St. Clair County Health Department names both - "Milam Recycling & Disposal Facility, 601 Madison Road, East St. Louis, IL 62201, Hours: Mon.-Fri. 3 am- 5pm, Sat. 5 am- 12pm, (618) 271-6788" and "Cottonwood Hills Recycling & Disposal Facility, 10400 Hillstown Road, Marissa, IL 62257, Hours: Mon.-Fri. 5 am-4 pm, (618) 295-2809" - and publishes the acceptance rule: "Illinois landfills will not accept tires, white goods (water heaters, refrigerators etc.), household hazardous wastes or liquid paint. If you are unsure if your item will be accepted please contact the landfill to inquire before dropping it off." Mattresses are not on that refusal list. Milam is about twelve miles north-west of Swansea; Cottonwood Hills about twenty miles south-east. The county also notes that Swansea households cannot simply opt out of collection: "Contact your City Hall or Village Hall to find out if they offer trash service in your area." Source Not confirmed: Neither landfill publishes a gate rate or minimum charge, so the self-haul cost is not established. Not confirmed: Sec. 51.46 of the Swansea code makes it unlawful to dispose of refuse anywhere in the village other than through the licensed collector, but it does not address a resident hauling their own refuse out of the village, and the Village publishes no guidance on that.

• 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