How to get rid of a mattress in Oceanport, NJ.

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.

• Oceanport's solid waste ordinance treats old furniture as ordinary trash rather than as a separate priced category, and then caps what one person may be asked to lift. Chapter 325, Article I, Garbage, Rubbish and Refuse [Adopted 5-20-1976 by Ord. No. 384], defines "TRASH and RUBBISH" as material that "Consists of old furniture, appliances, rubber tires, junk, cartons, household articles of an unwieldly nature, containers and other miscellaneous household items, except building materials." There is no separate bulk chapter and no bulk charge anywhere in the article. The handling rules in § 325-2 are where a mattress runs into a limit. The ordinance requires that "Any matter that cannot be deposited in a receptacle shall be securely packaged and tied to prevent spilling and scattering during handling and collection", and that "All receptacles, cans, barrels, bundles and packages shall be of a size to permit handling by one man and shall not exceed 75 pounds in weight when filled." A mattress cannot be put in a 30-gallon can, so by the ordinance's own logic it is matter that must be securely packaged and tied, and the 75-pound ceiling is one a heavier king mattress can approach or pass - household mattresses run roughly 50 to 100 pounds. Bundles of cardboard and paper carry the same 75-pound limit, and tree trimmings must be "cut to a length not to exceed six feet and securely tied in bundles not more than two feet thick". Under § 325-3 nothing may go to the curb "earlier than 6:00 p.m. of the day preceding the day of collection", and no empty receptacle may "remain on the curb or any part of the street or sidewalk more than 12 hours after the contents thereof have been collected". The article also does not apply to "any collection of earth, stone, plaster, wood or other materials from the excavation for or the construction, alteration or repair of any dwelling or premises". Changes to the collection schedule "will be announced and made public by the Borough Administrator, including a public advertisement thereof in a newspaper circulating within the Borough". Violations are punished under § 325-4 by "a penalty as set forth in Chapter 1, § 1-15, General penalty", and "Each day that a violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense." Source Not confirmed: The ordinance sets a 75-pound ceiling on anything packaged and tied for collection but does not say how it is applied to a mattress, so whether a heavy king mattress is refused on weight in Oceanport was not established.
• Oceanport's recycling article lists the heavy items its curbside crews will not take, and bedding is not among them. Chapter 325, Article II, Recycling [Adopted 6-18-1987 by Ord. No. 549], as amended April 1, 2010 by Ord. No. 879, provides at § 325-5I that "The following bulky recyclables shall not be placed with solid waste at the curbside for pickup: concrete, asphalt, brick, block, tree stumps, tree limbs over three inches in diameter, tires, metal appliances or bulk metal items larger than one cubic foot and/or heavier than five pounds." A mattress or box spring appears nowhere in that exclusion, which is consistent with the borough's own page listing mattresses as bulk. The article also closes the borough's drop-off to outsiders: § 325-11, Prohibited acts [Added 8-18-1988 by Ord. No. 573], states that "It shall be unlawful for any person or entity not a lawful resident of the Borough of Oceanport or any owner or occupant of a nonresidential establishment to deposit or place any recyclable materials either at a municipal dropoff center or at any other location within the Borough." Section 325-10 allows a resident to "donate or sell said recyclable material ... to any person, partnership or corporation, whether or not operating for profit", but that person "shall not pick up said recyclable materials at curbside or at a municipal dropoff center". Penalties under § 325-12 refer to the Chapter 1, § 1-15 general penalty, "except that the maximum fine or penalty for the failure to comply with § 325-5A and B thereof ... shall not exceed $50", with community service in the recycling program up to 90 days as an alternative, and each day a separate offense. The Municipal Recycling Coordinator, the Monmouth County Health Department and the Police Department are jointly and severally empowered to inspect and enforce. Source Not confirmed: The article bars non-residents from a municipal drop-off center but does not identify where that center is or whether one is currently operating in Oceanport, so no borough drop-off address was established.

• NJDEP County/Municipal Recycling Coordinator Locator lists municipal (updated August 2026) and county (updated July 2026) coordinator contacts. No statewide mattress stewardship program or landfill ban found on NJDEP pages as of 2026-09-22; mattress collection is handled by counties/municipalities. Source