How to get rid of a mattress in Bowling Green, KY.

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.

• The City of Bowling Green, Kentucky runs no refuse collection of its own, and its own code says collection inside the city belongs to Warren County's franchisee. Chapter XX of the Bowling Green Code of Ordinances is titled Solid Waste Collection, and Section 20-1.02 is headed 'County's Responsibility; Private Collectors Prohibited': 'It shall be unlawful for any person, except Warren County's designated solid waste Franchisee and other persons authorized in Warren County ordinances and regulations to engage in or conduct the business of collection, removal or disposal of solid waste within the corporate limits of the City'; 'It shall be unlawful for any person, except Warren County's designated recycling Franchisee to engage in or conduct the business of collecting residential recycling material within the corporate limits of the City'; and 'Private scavengers, pushcart operators and private solid waste collectors are hereby prohibited from engaging in the business of transporting or disposing of solid waste, residential recyclable material or residential yard waste.' Section 20-1.01 defines 'Franchisee' as the party holding collection rights 'under a written franchise agreement with Warren County'. Section 20-1.03 makes 'The Bowling Green Residential Franchisee, as approved by Warren County' responsible for residential yard waste, with brush and tree limbs 'cut to lengths no longer than five (5) feet and no more than six (6) inches in diameter and bundled', and says residential solid waste is removed 'as set out in Warren County regulations and the Warren County franchise agreement'. Section 20-1.04 makes it unlawful 'for any person to dispose of solid waste within the corporate limits of the City or elsewhere, except at a properly permitted landfill site', unlawful to maintain a dump ground, and unlawful to place containers in the paved portion of a street or on a sidewalk. Section 20-1.05 sets the penalty: any violation 'shall be punished by a penalty and fine not to exceed the maximum penalty and fine authorized by law. Each succeeding day a violation of this Chapter exists shall constitute a new and separate offense.' The chapter was significantly revised by Ord. No. BG2014-38 of December 16, 2014, most recently amended by Ord. BG2025-22. Source Not confirmed: The chapter names no bulky-item or large-item collection and never mentions mattresses, furniture or appliances. Not confirmed: The code does not name the company currently holding the Warren County franchise for Bowling Green, and the city publishes no bulky-item allowance or price for a mattress. Not confirmed: Section 20-1.05 states a maximum penalty 'authorized by law' without giving a figure. Not confirmed: No set-out window or curbside time is set by the chapter; it defers to Warren County regulations and the franchise agreement, neither of which was read.
• The City of Bowling Green Public Works Department's own page lists every service it provides and refuse collection is not among them. The services it names are signal and sign support, pothole reporting, sidewalk maintenance, storm drain maintenance, snow and ice removal, fall leaf pickup, street sweeping, right of way trimming, sink holes, right of way permits, stormwater management and greenway maintenance. Its divisions are Facilities Management, Fleet, Operations, Planning & Design and Stormwater Management. The department is at 1011 College Street, Bowling Green, KY 42101, 270-393-3628, open 8:00am to 4:00pm. There is no sanitation or solid waste division, no bulky item program and no drop-off site on the city's own list, which matches what the city's code says: collection in the city is the county franchisee's. Source Not confirmed: The city publishes no page telling a resident who to call to have a mattress collected, and no fee for doing so. Not confirmed: No city-run or county-run drop-off open to the public was found in Warren County, so the nearest place a Bowling Green resident can take a mattress, and what it charges, is not established.

• Covington primary branch address is 4399 Boron Dr, while operator locator says 4399 Boron Ave, both Covington KY 41015. Preserve the street-suffix conflict. Source
• Kentucky EEC recycling page provides a Recycling Facility Directory by County (PDF), a commodity recycler search spreadsheet, and a County Solid Waste Coordinator directory. No statewide mattress stewardship program or landfill ban found on EEC pages as of 2026-09-22; mattress disposal is handled by local governments. Source