How to get rid of a mattress in University Heights, OH.

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.

• University Heights collects with its own Service Department and its ordinary trash rules are tight enough that a mattress plainly cannot ride along with them, which is why the priced special pickup is the only city route. The Service Department page sets the container limit at "Rubbish cans not to exceed 32 gallons/50 lbs filled" - a 32-gallon maximum, where most Cuyahoga suburbs in this group issue a 96-gallon wheeled cart - and requires that "All garbage for collection must be bagged or wrapped and stored inside rigid containers with tight fitting lids," referring residents to Codified Ordinance 1064.02. Containers must be galvanized metal or weather-resistant plastic. Placement is unusually specific and is about reaching the item with a scooter rather than a mechanical arm: trash must sit on or next to the driveway rather than beside the garage, with a 10-foot radius kept clear "so non-rubbish items aren't mistakenly collected." Set-out is a single deadline: "Rubbish must be placed out by 7 AM on the day of collection," and recycling carts likewise by 7 a.m. on the recycling day. Construction material is excluded from regular collection and from the city altogether: for home remodeling, "your contractor is responsible for disposing of construction materials outside the City." Yard waste goes on the tree lawn, with grass and leaves in Kraft bags up to 50 pounds, brush bundled no longer than four feet and logs cut to two-foot lengths at up to 50 pounds, and the page notes that "Excessive yard waste" is itself treated as a "Special Pickup" - the same priced route. Loose or boxed cardboard goes in the garbage. When a collection day falls on or after a city holiday the schedule shifts one day later. The Service Department is at 2300 Warrensville Center Road, University Heights, Ohio 44118, open Monday through Friday 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at (216) 932-7800; Service Director Allen Pennington is at extension 215. Recycling is opt-in rather than universal, which is uncommon: Section 1064.021, added by Ordinance 2023-05 and amended by Ordinance 2024-12, provides that "To participate in the City's loose recycling services, residents shall opt-in or subscribe by obtaining recycling bin(s) from the City," and the city will help move bins to and from the curb on request. Source Not confirmed: The page does not name the hauler and does not say whether city crews or a contractor run the route Not confirmed: Bulk and large-item handling is not described on the Service Department page at all; it defers to the Special Pickups page, which does not name mattresses

• Primary names Harvard Avenue Transfer Station at 3227 Harvard Ave, Newburgh Heights OH 44105; district calls it Harvard Road at 3227 Harvard Road. Same number, city and operator support an identity candidate, but street suffix discrepancy retained. Source
• Hamilton municipal FAQ says transfer-station large-item intake Monday–Saturday. Existing Rumpke operator-locator staging record 07c7c0690194a830d775d57e lists Monday–Friday 8am–3:45pm at the same 1000 N Third Street address and phone 513-867-8661. This is an hours discrepancy, not grounds to merge unrelated branches. Source
• Ohio EPA Solid Waste Management District Locator (GIS app): select a county to see its Solid Waste Management District; the underlying layer covers all 88 counties. SWMDs are the local contact for recycling and disposal. Source
• Ohio EPA's "Where to Recycle" page names the three statewide tools it offers residents: the Ohio EPA Recycling Directory (a searchable directory of service providers who volunteered to be listed), the solid waste management district locator map, and the Ohio Materials Marketplace for businesses. It states that recycling and litter prevention activities are controlled locally through the county's solid waste management district, which "can help with information such as ... where to take hard to recycle items". Note the agency site now serves these pages under the /wps/portal/gov/epa/ path; the bare /divisions-and-offices/... URLs 404 when requested directly. Source
• The Ohio EPA Recycling Directory is hosted on RecycleSearch (Re-TRAC) and is searchable by free text or by pre-set material categories after setting a location. Its own text says results may include curbside recycling programs, drop-off recycling locations, reuse stores and other service providers, and that listing is not an endorsement. Its FAQ states the directory "is in the process of being populated" and that some areas of the state may have no information available, directing residents to their local solid waste management district instead. Listings are managed by Ohio EPA and the districts. Source
• No statewide mattress stewardship program or landfill ban found on Ohio EPA pages as of 2026-09-22; mattress disposal is handled by local governments and county solid waste management districts. The agency's own site search for "mattress" returns only 4 resources, none of them mattress-related (Revised Total Coliform Rule, Underground Injection Control, operator exam information and a Trauma Scene Clean-Up fact sheet). The Materials and Waste Management division pages cover solid waste, infectious waste, scrap tires and C&DD, with no mattress or bulky-item program. Source
• Mattress Recycling Council's Program States page names exactly four program states — California, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Oregon. Ohio is not among them, confirming there is no MRC-run mattress stewardship program or Bye Bye Mattress free drop-off network in Ohio. Source