How to get rid of a mattress in Utica, MI.

The allowance comes from the City's contracted hauler, whose residential page for Utica, MI states under Service Days: "Bulk Pick Up/Special Pick Up: 1-3 bulk items - no special pick up needed." The company's collection brochure for the City opens its Bulk Items Collection block with "Acceptable Large Items: Furniture, appliances," asks that doors be removed for child safety, and requires carpet to be "rolled and tied in 4-foot sections," a four-foot rule written about carpet rather than furniture. Neither the page nor the brochure ever mentions a mattress or a box spring, and neither sets a wrapping, bagging or sealing rule, which separates Utica from the other Macomb County towns researched alongside it. The City's own ordinance comes at the question from the other side and does not answer it either: Sec. 54-31 of Chapter 54 Solid Waste defines "Bulky items" as "items too large to handle in the regular rubbish truck, including but not limited to items such as bed springs, discarded furniture, large logs, stumps, and similar items, but not construction refuse," and that definition is the only place the phrase appears - no section of Chapter 54 provides for collecting a bulky item, sets a charge for one, or says where to take it. Sec. 54-34(a)(2) requires residential refuse containers of ten- or 20-gallon capacity and Sec. 54-34(a)(4) caps a container and its contents at 60 pounds, neither of which a mattress can meet, but Sec. 54-34(c) provides that "In the event that the contract awarded in section 54-37 contains terms or specifications different from those of subsection (a) of this section, the terms or specifications of the contract shall apply," so the hauler's published terms override the container specification. Utica's set-out window is measured in hours rather than by a clock time: Sec. 54-33(a)(2) allows refuse properly bundled or in approved containers on the lawn extension "not more than 12 hours prior to the established time for refuse pickup as prescribed by the superintendent," with all containers removed "within 24 hours after pickup"; the hauler's brochure separately asks for materials at the curb "by 6:00 AM or the night before," which is looser. A violation of Chapter 54 is a misdemeanor under Sec. 54-32, where St. Clair Shores and New Haven use civil infractions. Illegal dumping is a public nuisance under Sec. 54-33(a)(3): the superintendent makes written demand on an occupant or the taxpayer of record or posts it on the premises, and if it is not complied with within 48 hours the superintendent may remove the refuse, immediately where it is a hazard to public health, safety or welfare, with the cost "charged and billed against the premises and the owner thereof as a special assessment." No charge is published for a bulk item or a mattress and neither the City nor the hauler calls the collection free.

Not confirmed: No fee is published for a mattress or any bulk item and neither the City nor the hauler calls the collection free, so what one costs is not established

Not confirmed: Neither the hauler's page nor its brochure names a mattress, and the City's ordinance names only bed springs while providing no collection for them, so whether Utica's one-to-three item allowance covers a mattress is not established

Not confirmed: No wrapping, bagging or sealing rule for a mattress is published for Utica

Not confirmed: What happens to a fourth bulk item in a week is not stated

Not confirmed: Whether a mattress and a box spring count as one of the one-to-three items or as two is not stated

Not confirmed: The hauler's contract, which Sec. 54-34(c) makes prevail over the ordinance's container specification, is not published, so what it provides for a mattress is not established

Not confirmed: The brochure's 6:00 AM or night-before guidance is looser than the 12-hour limit in Sec. 54-33(a)(2), and nothing published says which a resident is held to

Not confirmed: Where a collected bulk item is taken is not stated, so the outcome is recorded as unknown

Not confirmed: Whether apartments or multiple-family buildings in Utica are served by the City's collection or must arrange their own is not stated

Not confirmed: The address, hours and accepted materials of the Utica Recycling Collection Center under Sec. 54-39 are not published, so whether it takes a mattress is not established

From the provider’s own page, checked Nov 7, 2026. Not confirmed by phone.

Chapter 54 Solid Waste, Code of Ordinances, City of Utica, Michigan, Article II adopted by Ordinance No. 12-A of April 8, 1980

Utica, MI - Priority Waste, residential service page for the City of Utica, Macomb County

Donors complete an online pickup request form and the team calls to confirm a date. Pickup is free when items are on a porch, in a garage or otherwise easily accessible; in-home pickup is $75, paid by check, money order, credit card or Venmo (no cash); premium removal services run $100 to $125 per item. Mattresses of any size qualify if clean, unstained, untorn, pet-hair-free and fully usable.

• $0 — Free pickup when the donated items are on a porch, in a garage or otherwise easily accessible.
• Plus $75 — In-home pickup surcharge, paid by check, money order, credit card or Venmo; cash is not accepted. Premium removal services are published only as a $100-$125 per item range and are not staged.

Not confirmed: The $100-$125 premium removal tier is published as a range without a per-item breakdown.

Not confirmed: No quantity limit per pickup is published.

From the provider’s own page, checked Sep 22, 2026. Not confirmed by phone.

Furniture Bank of Metro Detroit donation guidelines