How to get rid of a mattress in Emmaus, PA.

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.

• Emmaus Borough's solid waste ordinance (Chapter 20, Part 1, Ord. 964 of April 9, 2003, as amended by Ord. 1057 of September 21, 2009) folds oversize items into 'refuse' itself: the definition is 'the collective term applying to rubbish, ashes, paper products, rags, street sweepings, excelsior, straw, boxes, old clothes, shoes, leather scraps, pieces of carpet, cloth, glass, china, wood, sand, brick, tile, etc., and all waste material and riffraff too large for collection in containers, such as furniture, tanks and appliances.' One prohibition in § 20-103 speaks to bedding directly: 'It shall be unlawful to place in any containers provided for the regular collection of garbage and refuse any wearing material, bedding or refuse from premises where highly infectious or contagious diseases have prevailed or where there is highly flammable or explosive refuse or garbage.' The set-out window is narrow: 'Refuse may not be set out for collection more than 12 hours prior to the time of collection. Empty containers must be removed from the curbside collection location within 12 hours of collection,' and no container may be 'placed or stored at any property so as to be visible from the front of the property.' Where a household's accumulation exceeds six thirty-gallon containers, § 20-102(10) lets the Borough require the household to haul it itself and says 'said entity may be required to pay such additional fees for the removal thereof as determined by the Borough Manager.' The penalty for a violation is 'a fine of not more than $1,000 and/or imprisonment for a term not to exceed 30 days,' with every day a separate offense. The annual assessment is set by Borough Council resolution each year; the code itself sets no amount, gives a $10 discount if paid within 60 days of the billing date, and adds 10% after 30 days past the due date. Source Not confirmed: No figure is published for the 'additional fees ... as determined by the Borough Manager' in § 20-102(10); the code authorizes a charge and sets none. Not confirmed: The annual assessment amount is set by resolution and is not in the code; the current year's figure was not found on the borough's own site. Not confirmed: The code names furniture, tanks and appliances as oversize examples and never names a mattress. Not confirmed: The bedding prohibition covers premises where infectious or contagious diseases have prevailed; the code does not say what a household in that position must do instead.
• Emmaus Borough's annual refuse assessment buys more than a weekly route. Chapter 20, Part 1, § 20-102(2), as amended by Ord. No. 1188 of April 15, 2019, says the assessment covers 'the collection, removal, transportation, and disposal of municipal solid waste, including all refuse and recyclables, electronic waste, household hazardous waste, "Dumpster Day" services, as well as leaf waste, compost services, yard waste, holiday tree waste.' What a resident may actually bring to a Dumpster Day is decided event by event: Part 2, § 20-206 provides that 'the Borough of Emmaus, prior to any event, shall establish the acceptable items that shall be permitted to be disposed of at the event.' Part 2 also tightened curbside containers: since April 15, 2020 'all residential properties utilizing curbside solid waste collection shall be required to utilize containers that shall be durable, watertight, and made of metal or plastic. Individual plastic bags and loose waste shall be prohibited from curbside collection,' with each container capped at ninety-six gallons. A violation of Part 2 carries 'a fine of up to but not more than $1,000 together with the costs of prosecution, and in default of the payment of such fine and costs, to undergo imprisonment for not more than 90 days.' Source Not confirmed: No current Dumpster Day accepted-items list is published on the borough's site, so whether a mattress may be brought to one is not established. Because the ordinance lets the list change before every event, an older list would not answer it either. Not confirmed: No date for the next Dumpster Day is published on the borough's site. Not confirmed: No charge is published for a Dumpster Day beyond the statement that it is covered by the annual assessment, and the assessment amount itself is set by resolution and not published in the code.

• Operator location page gives 219 Street Road, West Grove PA 19390; DEP permit 101069 directory gives 261 Street Road. Preserve both; no automatic address overwrite or branch merge. Source
• Seven facility cards distinguish YCRRC/Small Load Drop-Off at 2651 Blackbridge Road from management at 2700, recycling at 2685 Blackthorne Court, ash site, recreation and sanitary landfill. Operator ZIP 17406 differs from DEP YCRRC ZIP 17402. Source
• No statewide mattress stewardship program or landfill ban found on PA DEP pages as of 2026-09-22; mattress disposal is handled by local governments. Source
• PA DEP County Recycling Coordinators directory (select county) for local drop-offs and events; RecycleSearch for material-specific facilities; DEP Recycling Hotline 800-346-4242. DEP says bulky items go through your refuse hauler, or your county recycling coordinator if you have none. Source