How to get rid of a mattress in Cape Girardeau, MO.

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.

• Cape Girardeau collects its own trash and runs its own bulky pickup. The city's 2025-2026 Trash & Recycling Handbook sets out 'Wednesday Special Pickups — By Appointment Only - Call Public Works 573-339-6351' and states under 'Free Annual Bulk Pickup' that 'Each residential trash customer is allowed one, free Wednesday Special Pickup per calendar year. This pickup provides an annual disposal option for extra refuse, bulky items and appliances.' A limited number of slots exist each Wednesday and none are scheduled in weeks containing a holiday. The free allowance is time-limited rather than item-limited: 'If your free annual pickup takes Public Works staff more than 10 minutes to load, it will convert to a charge pick up. The first 10 minutes of the pickup are free, after 10 minutes an additional charge per minute will be applied.' Items must be separated at the front curb into three categories — '1) Boxes, bags and bulky items (furniture); 2) Major appliances...; 3) bundled limbs and compost' — and all small loose items must be in bags or boxes or they are left behind. The city carts are not emptied during a special pickup. The excluded list is 'Tires, batteries, oil, bricks, concrete, railroad ties, automobile parts, pesticides, oil based paint, or other hazardous materials' — a mattress is not excluded, and limbs and brush are excluded from the free allowance so charges apply to those. Regular carts 'must be set out by 6 a.m. on your scheduled collection day, but cannot be set out sooner than 12 hours prior to the collection date' and must be removed on the day of collection. The handbook publishes no figure for charged pickups: 'Visit cityofcape.org/solidwaste or call Public Works for all special pickup rates', with a fuel surcharge added when diesel exceeds $3.75/gallon and the note '>>All rates increase annually on July 1st<<'. Source Not confirmed: The handbook publishes no charged special-pickup figures at all; it refers the reader to the rates page, which is now behind an interactive challenge on the city's live site and could not be read directly in this pass. Current rates were already recorded separately (July 1 2026: $25 base plus $1.66 per minute per person after ten minutes); the decommissioned CivicLive mirror still serves the superseded 7/1/25 figures of $13.20 and $1.59 and must not be quoted. Not confirmed: No wrapping, bagging or plastic-cover rule is published for a mattress, and no size or weight cap is published for the bulky/furniture category. Not confirmed: Whether a mattress and box spring together count as one job or two is not addressed; the free allowance is measured in loading minutes, not items.
• Cape Girardeau's ordinance puts the bulky program inside the monthly trash bill and sets the local rules a reader is searching for. Code of Ordinances Chapter 22, Article II (version June 1, 2026) defines 'Bulky rubbish' as 'nonputrescible solid wastes... which are either too large or too heavy to be safely and conveniently loaded in solid waste collection vehicles'. Sec. 22-25(a) provides that 'bulky rubbish may be collected according to regulations and charges to be made and promulgated by the city staff... Bulky rubbish shall not be collected upon regular collection days but shall be collected upon request to the city staff and according to procedures established by the city staff', and 22-25(b) reserves the city's right to refuse bulky trash 'that the city staff determines to be harmful to its collection equipment'. Sec. 22-38(a) states that the basic monthly residential fee 'shall include the following services: (1) Collection of all waste or recycling in the city-provided containers. (2) Bulk waste collection program. (3) Fall leaf collection program' — so the annual pickup is bought with the monthly bill, not free-standing. Sec. 22-24(a) makes the service compulsory: 'Every owner or occupant of a residential dwelling unit within the city limits shall receive solid waste collection service and tender payment therefor'. Sec. 22-26(a) fixes the set-out window: containers go 'within three feet of the curb or edge of roadway, or alley... on or 12 hours prior to the day of collection, and removed on the same day within a reasonable time.' Sec. 22-42 sets the penalty: any person violating the article or the regulations promulgated under it 'shall be punished by a fine of not less than $5.00 nor more than $500.00, provided that each day's violation thereof shall be a separate offense'. The tipping rate at the city disposal facility is set by reference only — Sec. 22-30(b) charges haulers 'a rate per ton, as provided in the city fee schedule, plus fuel surcharge, if applicable', with a further increase 'for each load that is not properly covered or secured'. Source Not confirmed: The code names no figure anywhere: both the residential monthly fee and the per-ton disposal rate are delegated to a separate city fee schedule, and Sec. 22-25 delegates bulky-trash charges to city staff regulations. Not confirmed: No apartment, multi-family or HOA rule for bulky items is published; Sec. 22-24(b) simply makes every commercial establishment, which includes housing of more than three dwelling units, arrange its own collection. Not confirmed: Chapter 22 Article III (Litter) was not read in this pass, so any separate illegal-dumping penalty there is unestablished.

• Sleepyhead FAQ states no local mattress recycling options. Bridging The Gap primary page advertises mattress recycling in Kansas City at 5117 E 31st Street. Source
• Missouri DNR: 20 solid waste management districts plan local recycling services, with a county-to-district lookup map. No statewide mattress stewardship program or landfill ban found on DNR pages as of 2026-09-22; mattress disposal is handled by local governments. Source