How to get rid of a mattress in Covington, VA.

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.

• Covington is an independent city, so no county government sits above it, and its own code - the only place the question is answered - gives a Covington household no route for a mattress while listing bedding among the things the city collects. Chapter 38 defines what is collected: "Refuse means ashes, garbage and rubbish", and "Rubbish means nonputrescible, solid wastes consisting of paper, cardboard, wood, tin cans, glass, yard clippings, bedding, crockery, metals, trash, sweepings, litter and all other similar substances." Bedding is named. But every mechanism for getting it collected is container-sized. Sec. 38-51 requires "an adequate number of metal or other watertight sanitary containers", and Sec. 38-52 caps them: every residential container "shall be equipped with a tightfitting metal or other watertight cover and shall be of a minimum capacity of 20 gallons and a maximum capacity of 30 gallons", with "Secured garbage bags also are permitted." The one section addressing anything oversized, Sec. 38-54 "Preparation of bulky rubbish for collection", turns out to mean cardboard and paper: "Bulky rubbish such as cardboard or wooden boxes shall be flattened and, together with newspapers, magazines and other large quantities of dry paper or similar material, tied in bundles with stout cord by the occupants of residential premises. Such bundles or bales shall not exceed 36 inches in length or breadth, 20 inches in height and 50 pounds in weight." A twin mattress is 75 inches and a queen 80, against a 36-inch cap on the only bulky provision in the chapter. Nowhere in Chapter 38 is there a bulk collection, large-item pickup, special pickup, allowance, clean-up day or any charge authorizing one. What the chapter does carry is mandatory service - Sec. 38-28, "Every occupant of any residential or commercial premises in the city shall use the city refuse collection service where the same is made available" - collection "at frequent intervals" by city crews, containers placed at ground level and "not inside houses, porches or garages" and never "upon any street or sidewalk of the city", removal after collection, and enforcement by "the suspension of refuse collection service or by bringing such violators to trial". On dumping, Sec. 38-2 sets "a civil penalty of $50.00 for the first violation", $200.00 for a later violation not arising from the same facts within 12 months, each business day a separate offense, a $3,000.00 ceiling in any 12-month period, and prosecution as a Class 3 misdemeanor once three civil penalties have been imposed for the same or a similar violation within 24 months; a citation may be settled by paying within 14 calendar days. Source Not confirmed: Covington's code names bedding inside its definition of "Rubbish", which is part of the refuse the city collects, and at the same time caps residential containers at 30 gallons and limits "bulky rubbish" to 36-inch bundles of boxes and paper. The code does not reconcile the two, and it neither refuses a mattress by name nor authorizes any charge for collecting one. Not confirmed: No bulk, large-item or special collection service and no fee for one appears anywhere in Chapter 38, so nothing can be recorded as a Covington bulk route and nothing can be called free.
• The only disposal site Covington's code prices is the one the city shut. Sec. 38-4, "Peters Mountain Landfill; charges", still sets a residential schedule of "0-1/4 ton: $22.03", "1/4-1/2 ton: $44.06", "1/2-3/4 ton: $66.09" and "3/4-one ton: $88.13", with "For car tires, the charge will be $2.00 each", "For truck tires, the charge will be $4.00 each" and "For appliances, the charge will be $10.00 each", on identical figures for commercial and institutional users. It also carries the city's residency waiver: "City residents presenting proof of residency (e.g. utility bill, lease, etc.) and state-issued identification will not be charged Peters Mountain Landfill disposal fees for residential solid waste (i. e. the usual waste generated from residences). However, residential solid waste shall not include tires and construction or demolition debris, or any items brought to the Landfill by a construction, demolition, or lawn maintenance contractor. The Landfill shall have the discretion to reject solid waste not considered generated from a residence and its policy and/or decision on the matter shall be final." That whole section is now a rate card for nothing. The city announced that "effective Friday, August 1, 2025, Peter's Mountain Landfill will be permanently closed" and that refuse goes instead to the Alleghany County Transfer Station, yet the section survived into a code codified through Ordinance No. O-25-06 of August 12, 2025 and published as current to May 12, 2026. A reader who finds Covington's landfill fee schedule and drives to it will find the gate closed, and a reader who reads the waiver will not find the same free-for-residents rule published anywhere for the county transfer station Covington now uses. Source Not confirmed: Covington's code still sets Peters Mountain Landfill charges for a landfill the city says closed permanently on August 1, 2025, and the code publishes no replacement schedule for the Alleghany County Transfer Station that took its place. Not confirmed: No mattress line appears in Sec. 38-4, and neither the code nor the city states what a Covington resident pays at the Alleghany County Transfer Station, so no drop-off price can be recorded for Covington.

• Governor vetoed HB 86 (2026 session), which would have created a mattress recycling program with a purchase fee; veto statement dated April 13, 2026 calls mandating all retailers join a single program and raise prices unworkable. No statewide mattress program in effect. Source
• Virginia DEQ operates no statewide item locator. Its Statewide Recycling Programs page tells residents "Your local government website or recycling coordinator is the best source for detailed information on recycling and special collection events" and, to find where to recycle hard-to-dispose items, to contact the Recycling Program Manager in their locality; it names the third-party Earth911 website as the universal resource. The only product-specific statewide program listed is Computer & Electronics Recycling under Virginia's Computer Recovery and Recycling Act. The page's list of common Virginia recyclables does not include mattresses or furniture. Source
• Virginia's recycling mandates are rate mandates on localities, not material bans: each county, city, town or regional authority (Solid Waste Planning Unit) must maintain recycling programs meeting at least 15% (low population density or high unemployment) or 25% (all others), must maintain a Solid Waste Management Plan, and may be required to file a Recycling Action Plan if it falls short. No material is banned from disposal and mattresses are not mentioned. The page links a statewide "Recycling Program Managers (by Locality)" contact list (deq.virginia.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/29928/639154037491930000) and the Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Regulations at 9VAC20-130. Source
• Mattress Recycling Council's Program States page names exactly four program states — California, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Oregon. Virginia is not among them; MRC's head office is at 501 Wythe Street, Alexandria VA 22314, but it runs no Virginia program. This is consistent with the existing record that Virginia's 2026 mattress recycling bill (HB 86) was vetoed. Source