How to get rid of a mattress in Lakeland, TN.

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.

• Lakeland's weekly cart service is run by a contractor and is separate from the City's own bulk route, which matters because the two have different rules and different set-out times. The City's Household Trash, Recycling, and Yard Waste page states "Waste Connections provides curbside collection of Household Waste, Recyclables, and Yard Waste for the City of Lakeland" at a "Rate: $24.70/month", which includes one 95-gallon trash cart, one 95-gallon recycle cart and one 95-gallon yard waste cart. The cart deadline is earlier than most of the county: "On the scheduled trash day, ALL containers must be left on the curb by 6 AM." Carts go out with "the lid opening towards the street", wheels facing away, and "at least 3 feet of space between the trash cart and your mailbox or other structures, including your other disposal carts." The page draws the line between the two services itself in the yard waste section: "Large limbs which will not fit in the cart will be collected by the City's bulk waste service." Small appliances are the only large item it addresses, and they go out with the trash: "Small appliances may be placed in your 95-gallon container OR left on the curb with the regular trash." Reporting a missed collection or a broken cart goes to the Public Works Administrative Assistant at (901) 867-5409, not to the hauler. Source Not confirmed: The page lists what may not go in the cart - hot coals, construction materials, rocks, dirt, concrete, car batteries, paint, tires, large auto parts, dead animals, loose sharps and household hazardous waste - and a mattress is on neither that list nor the accepted list, so the cart service says nothing about bedding.
• Lakeland opens its own Public Works yard to residents three times a year for things the weekly service will not take. The City's trash page states "The City will be holding 3 Community Cleanup Days in 2026" and names them as March 28, 2026, June 27, 2026 and September 26, 2026 - all three have now passed, and the next round would fall in 2027 on the same pattern. The location is the City's own yard: "Community Cleanup Day will take place at the Public Works facility at City Hall, 10001 Highway 70, Lakeland, TN." The City describes the purpose in general terms only: "Lakeland residents can take advantage of the opportunity to dispose hard-to-get-rid-of items they need to have thrown away", and directs questions to the Public Works Department at 901-867-5409. Eligibility is stated as Lakeland residents. Source Not confirmed: The City publishes no list of what Community Cleanup Day accepts or refuses, and no hours, so whether a mattress may be brought is not established. Not confirmed: No 2027 dates are published, so a reader has only the 2026 pattern of late March, late June and late September to go on. Not confirmed: No fee or proof-of-residency requirement is published for the event.

• No statewide mattress stewardship program or landfill ban found on TDEC pages as of 2026-09-22; mattress disposal is handled by local governments. Source
• TDEC Materials Management page links a 'Where may I dispose of recycle items near me?' ArcGIS dashboard (arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/f7515b25ca29478a8adc6a9dc8c1f7c1); program supports 95 counties and solid waste planning regions. Source
• The ArcGIS dashboard TDEC links from its Materials Management page is titled "County Recycling Centers". Its correct address is arcgis.com/apps/dashboards/f7515b25ca29478a8adc6a9dc8c1f7c1 — this corrects the partially recorded id in st-tn-102 (the id f7515b25ca29478a8a1b9bd68a4bba51 returns "item cannot be found"). It is the statewide map residents use to find county recycling centers. Source
• TDEC's Waste Management Branch page lists the state's full set of solid waste programs — Solid Waste, Landfill Operators Certification, waste tire hauler, hazardous and medical waste, and Materials Management (Recovered Materials, grants, HHW, waste tires, organics, debris management, BOPAE household batteries/oil/paint/antifreeze/electronics). No mattress program, bulky-waste rule or disposal ban appears. The page also links the Solid Waste Dataviewer (dataviewers.tdec.tn.gov/dataviewers/f?p=19035:34001), which searches facility information, inspection reports, complaints and forms. It notes that, effective August 1, Materials Management moves into TDEC's Division of Stakeholder Engagement with programs and services continuing unchanged. Source
• Mattress Recycling Council's Program States page names exactly four program states — California, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Oregon. Tennessee is not among them, confirming there is no MRC-run mattress stewardship program or Bye Bye Mattress free drop-off network in Tennessee. Source