How to get rid of a mattress in Mount Joy, 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.

• Mount Joy Borough runs a color-coded tag program for anything beyond three bags a week, and no tag in it covers a mattress. The Borough's Special Items Tags/Info page prices five tags and a bag. Orange, $3.00, 'Extra Refuse Containers - For additional 32-gallon refuse bags / cans, not weighing more than 30 lbs each.' Red, $5.00, 'Oversized Items - For refuse that will not fit into refuse containers (ex. small furniture, carpet, etc.)', with a 'Limit of two per week' and the note that 'TVs are no longer accepted!' Blue, $12.00, 'White Goods', 'APPLIANCES ONLY!', collected twice a year on scheduled dates. White, $5.00, for tires 'on or off the rims', also twice a year. Kraft bag, $0.50, for woody waste April through mid-October, 'Limit of 10 bags or bundles per collection date', 'NO GRASS CLIPPINGS.' Green, $2.00, for grass clippings. The rules on using them are strict: items go to the regular trash site the evening before collection, special tags must be bought 'by 2:00 PM the day before collection', and 'NO ITEM WILL BE COLLECTED WITHOUT THE APPROPRIATE TAG!' White goods or tires set out on any date other than the two scheduled ones are not collected and the resident 'may be cited under the Property Maintenance Code'. Tags are sold at the Borough Office, 300 Orchard Road, Monday through Friday, 7 AM to 4 PM, and at the Milanof-Schock Library, 1184 Anderson Ferry Road, during library hours, by 'check, cash, or money order only.' Source Not confirmed: The tag table names no mattress and no box spring under any color, so Mount Joy publishes no tag price for one. Not confirmed: The red oversized tag's only examples are 'small furniture, carpet, etc.', and the page does not say whether a mattress qualifies as an oversized item.
• Mount Joy Borough answers the question 'which tag does this item need?' item by item, and a mattress is not one of the items. The Borough's Refuse & Recycling FAQs assign a tag color to twenty-two named items: 'Lawn Mowers (gas must be emptied) - oversized tag (red)', 'Water Softener Tank - white good tag (blue)', 'Bicycle Tires - extra bag tag (orange) or may count as one of your 3 bag limit', 'Sheets of Metal (no bigger than 4 x 4 ft) - oversized tag (red)', 'Kitchen Table - oversized tag (red)', 'Kitchen Chairs - oversized tag (red)', 'Wooden Garage Door (cut wood and tie into bundles weighing no more than 30 pounds) - extra bag tag (orange) for each bundle', 'Metal Tracks from Garage Door (no bigger than 4 ft in length) -oversized tag (red)', 'Antenna Tower (no bigger than 4 ft) - oversized tag (red)', 'Gas Logs - oversized tag (red)', 'Bikes - oversized tag (red)', 'Siding - (no bigger than 4 ft in length, tie into bundles weighing no more than 30 pounds) - oversized tag (red)', 'Large Metal Cabinets - oversized tag (red)', 'Gas Grills - oversized tag (red) ( may not dispose of propane tank with grill)', 'Microwave - white good tag (blue)', 'Air Conditioner - white good tag (blue)', 'Dehumidifier - white good tag (blue)' and 'Clothes Washer / Dryer - white good tag (blue)'. Three items are routed off the curb entirely: 'Helium Tanks - MUST CALL LCSWMA TO DISPOSE (717) 397-9968', 'Propane Gas Tanks - MUST CALL LCSWMA TO DISPOSE (717) 397-9968' and 'Riding Mower - MUST MAKE ARRANGEMENTS WITH TRASH HAULER OR CALL LCSWMA TO DISPOSE (717) 397-9968'. Mattresses and box springs appear nowhere in the list, in either column. Source Not confirmed: The absence of a mattress from this list is not a stated refusal. The page carries no 'not accepted' heading at all, so what it establishes is that the Borough's own item-by-item guide does not cover a mattress. Not confirmed: The page does not say which of its three off-curb routes - call LCSWMA, or arrange with the hauler - a mattress would take.
• Not an option: Mount Joy Borough's own ordinance puts a mattress outside the collection its hauler contract covers, which is why no Borough tag covers one. Chapter 220, Solid Waste, Section 220-1 defines 'MUNICIPAL CONTRACT WASTE' as 'Those portions of regulated municipal waste which are to be collected and disposed of under this municipal contract. Municipal contract waste consists exclusively of refuse and oversized refuse items.' It defines 'REFUSE' as 'That portion of regulated municipal waste, except: A. Construction/demolition waste; B. Nonprocessable waste; C. Putrescible waste; and D. Household hazardous waste.' And it defines 'NONPROCESSABLE WASTE' as 'a portion of municipal waste consisting of materials which cannot be handled by LCSWMA's normal processing or disposal methods. Nonprocessable waste includes items greater than six feet in any dimension, such as mattresses, large furniture and recreational vehicles. Nonprocessable waste (oversized) may consist of large auto parts, machines, and any other items deemed appropriate by LCSWMA.' The remaining half of municipal contract waste is closed off by the same definitions: 'OVERSIZED REFUSE ITEMS' are 'Refuse which will not fit into refuse containers, but which is not nonprocessable waste, including small furniture, carpet, portable televisions and the like, but excluding tires and white goods.' So the ordinance names a mattress as nonprocessable waste, nonprocessable waste is excluded from refuse, and an oversized refuse item is by definition something that is not nonprocessable waste - leaving a mattress outside both categories that make up the Borough's contract. The tag itself is defined the same way: an 'EXTRA SERVICE TAG' is 'A label which must be affixed to tires, white goods, oversized refuse items, yard waste and extra refuse containers in order for such items to be collected by the contractor', a list a mattress does not appear on. The Borough's published tag table and its item-by-item FAQ match the ordinance exactly in never mentioning one. Source Not confirmed: The ordinance excludes a mattress from municipal contract waste by definition rather than printing a refusal: there is no 'mattresses not accepted' line, and the chapter does not say where a Mount Joy household should take one instead. Not confirmed: Whether the Borough's hauler will take a mattress by private arrangement outside the municipal contract is not addressed. The Borough's FAQ uses exactly that route for a riding mower, telling residents to 'MAKE ARRANGEMENTS WITH TRASH HAULER OR CALL LCSWMA TO DISPOSE (717) 397-9968'.
• Mount Joy Borough charges for collection by the year, not by the item, and the charge is set by the Borough itself. Its Refuse & Recycling Guidelines page states that 'The Borough of Mount Joy hereby fixes and assesses the following 2026 service charges for collection of refuse/recycling': 'Residential Service Charge Per Unit Per Year, Includes Woody Waste Removal - $ 427.00' and 'Non-residential Retail Commercial Service Charge Per Unit Per Year, Includes Woody Waste Removal - $ 527.00'. 'Refuse/Recycling invoices are mailed late December for the period of January through June and again in late June for the period of July through December. If you wish to pay for the entire year, you may do so and receive a $5.00 discount.' The Borough adds that its 'overall program costs are still well below the costs for subscription services and comparable to similar contracts for waste collection programs in Lancaster County.' Opting out is not open to an ordinary household: the two options - 'have your materials collected curbside by Mount Joy Borough's licensed hauler' or 'opt out of the Borough's collection program and contract with a private hauler' with annual proof of collection - are set out for 'Commercial, Industrial, Public and Multi-Family' properties under Act 101 and the Borough's Ordinance 487. The page names the contractor as 'GFL Environmental' and warns residents off the contractor's own lists: 'While GFL Environmental is our refuse and recycling company, what they will accept from each town for recycling is different. Each town and person has a separate contract with specific items which are permissible for recycling. Please do not reference GFL Environmental's website for a list of acceptable recyclables.' Cardboard can also be dropped in Borough dumpsters 'At Little Chiques Park, Park Avenue, in the parking lot.' Borough Office: (717) 653-2300, 300 Orchard Road. Source Not confirmed: The $427.00 is an annual program charge per residential unit, not a price for any single item, and nothing in it is a mattress fee. Not confirmed: The Borough's 2026 trash information page names the hauler as 'Waste Industries of Pennsylvania, LLC dba GFI Environmental/Casella' while this page says 'GFL Environmental is our refuse and recycling company', so the contractor's exact corporate name is not settled between the Borough's own pages. Not confirmed: This page says nothing about mattresses or bulk items.
• Mount Joy Borough's 2026 trash information sets the set-out window and the weekly limit that any extra item has to be tagged against. 'Mount Joy Borough has contracted with Waste Industries of Pennsylvania, LLC dba GFI Environmental/Casella' and 'Trash will be collected on three (3) different days' depending on where in the Borough a household sits, with the Borough Office at (717) 653-2300 as the place to find out which. 'The collection can begin as early as 4:30 AM on your assigned collection day,' so 'Customers may place their trash/recycle containers at your collection site no earlier than 5:00 PM' the evening before, and the Borough warns against waiting: 'Please do not wait until the morning of your scheduled collection day ... This will most likely result in a late put out' and 'will require the purchase of an extra tag.' The weekly allowance is three bags or cans, which 'Must be no more than 32-gallon containers/bags with a max weight of 30LBS', and 'If you have more than 3 bags/containers or other items, you may purchase extra service tags for special services.' Cardboard 'must be broken and tied in a bundle no bigger than the size of your recycle bin of no more than 30 LBS', or taken to the Borough's dumpsters 'on Market Avenue' or 'at Little Chiques Park.' A missed collection is reported by leaving the trash at the collection site and calling the Borough Office before 11:00 AM the next day. Holiday delays for 2026: 'Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, 2026 - Delay Monday through Wednesday' and 'Labor Day, Monday, September 7, 2026 - Delay Monday through Wednesday.' Source Not confirmed: The page never mentions a mattress, a box spring or a bulk item: it sends every extra item to the Special Items Tags/Info page, whose tag list does not cover one either. Not confirmed: The page gives no penalty for a late put-out beyond the cost of an extra tag.

• 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