How to get rid of a mattress in Park Ridge, 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.

• Park Ridge runs its own residents-only compactor yard, and its ordinance and its newsletter do not agree about whether a mattress may go there. The Borough Code, Chapter 64, § 64-3A says: "A compactor shall be operated by the Borough of Park Ridge for the exclusive use of residents of the Borough of Park Ridge. No resident shall be permitted to dispose of garbage, stone, dirt, newspaper, magazines or any material in excess of four feet in any dimension." Four feet is 48 inches; a twin mattress is 75 inches long, a queen and a king 80 inches, so no household mattress clears that limit. The 2026 Recycling Newsletter, though, tells residents the opposite: "Residents can dispose of household bulk waste at the R/C", and "There is also a trash compactor located at the facility for items not disposable through the curbside garbage collections." The yard itself is "located at the end of Sulak Lane (off of Pascack Road between the gas station and the Pascack Reformed Church)", is "open on Wednesdays from 9 AM to 3 PM and Saturdays from 9 AM to 2 PM", and is gated by a permit: "It is available for residents only, and you must have a hanging tag. Orange tags will be used in 2026. If you need a tag please visit Borough Hall." The code adds that "No vehicle in excess of 7,500 pounds' gross vehicle weight shall be used to deposit materials in or transport materials to the compactor", and the calendar caps one other stream: "Limit one pickup truck load of construction/demolition debris." This conflict is recorded, not resolved. Source Not confirmed: The ordinance's four-foot limit and the newsletter's statement that residents may bring household bulk waste to the Recycling Center cannot both be read to cover a mattress, and the Borough publishes nothing that reconciles them, so whether a mattress may be dropped at the Sulak Lane yard is not established. Not confirmed: The newsletter refers to "the attached insert for items that are accepted at the Recycling Center"; that insert is not in the published calendar document, so the Center's own accepted-items list was not read. Not confirmed: No mattress fee or per-item charge is published for the compactor.
• Park Ridge's code commits the Borough's hauler to charging for extra items and never says what the charge is. Chapter 64, § 64-4 Special collections reads: "Special collections, such as cleanup week, may be provided by the Borough of Park Ridge through its scavenger contract. In addition thereto, certain articles not required to be removed by the Borough Scavenger may be removed by the Borough Scavenger upon the payment of certain scheduled fees in the manner prescribed by the Mayor and Council, who shall approve the rates to be charged therefor by the Borough Scavenger. These fees shall be paid directly to the Borough Scavenger and shall not be considered revenue by the Borough." No schedule of those rates appears in the Code or on the Borough website, and because the money goes to the contractor rather than the Borough it does not surface in a Borough fee ordinance either. The same chapter sets the household limits that frame a bulk set-out: every occupant must "provide and at all times hereafter to keep on the premises at least one receptacle of the size and type prescribed by the Mayor and Council, which shall not hold over 60 pounds in garbage and trash" (§ 64-2A), and must "maintain all materials ready for pickup in a neat, orderly manner, properly wrapped, packed and drained" (§ 64-2C). Section 64-6 makes it unlawful to "permit or allow garbage or rubbish to accumulate on his premises for a period of more than four days", and § 64-8 sets the penalty: "Any person violating any of the provisions of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, pay a penalty of not exceeding $500 or be imprisoned for a period not exceeding 90 days, or both." Source Not confirmed: Section 64-4 authorizes scheduled fees for articles the Borough Scavenger is not required to remove and directs that they be paid to the scavenger, but no such schedule of rates was found in the Code or on the Borough website. The charge is authorized and unpublished; it must not be read as free.

• 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