How to get rid of a mattress in Middleton, WI.

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.

• Not an option: Middleton runs a staffed municipal recycling center and it refuses bedding by name. The Middleton Recycling Center, 4330 Parmenter St. beside the Municipal Operations Center, takes scrap metal, hard plastics, Styrofoam, plastic bags and wrap, motor oil and filters, printer cartridges and raw wood free of charge, and keeps a Freecycle area for reusable items. Its published exclusion list then reads: "Items NOT accepted (not a complete list): ... treated, painted, stained, or engineered wood; propane cylinders and tanks; furniture; mattresses; windows or other glass items; child car seats". A resident who sees a free city recycling center should not load a mattress into the car for it. Source
• The city's recycling page sets the Middleton Recycling Center's terms: "Service is limited to Middleton residents; identification may be required." It is open Saturdays year round from 8 a.m. to noon, closed on major holiday weekends, with additional Wednesday hours from 5 to 7 p.m. from May through September; the 2026 holiday closures are September 5, November 28 and December 26. Card payments for the items that do carry a fee add a 3.5% processing fee. The same page routes mattresses and box springs away from the center and to a paid Pellitteri special collection or the Dane County Landfill. Source
• Middleton's Municipal Code Sec. 6.04 defines a "Bulk Item" as "trash that is too large to fit into designated trash collection containers. Examples include furniture and appliances," and requires residents using city curbside service to "Arrange for separate collection of tires, bulk items and major-appliances according to procedures established by the Public Works Committee." The code's set-out rule is a single deadline rather than a window: recyclables and other solid waste must be placed in city-approved containers at the curb, or at other city designated collection points, "no later than 6:00 AM on the day of collection," and no waste may be placed for collection other than waste generated on the premises for which the city containers were provided. City collection service covers single-family dwellings, defined as four or fewer independent family units, at one set of carts per unit. Source Not confirmed: The code's definition of a bulk item names furniture and appliances as examples and does not name mattresses, and the Public Works Committee procedures it refers to were not located as a separate adopted document.

• 7 Rivers lists W6833 Industrial Blvd., Onalaska WI 54650 and phone (507) 205-2082. Operator describes recovering steel, foam and fibers from mattresses. Name and full address support the original national-directory facility identity; directory phone 608-783-6727 x103 differs. Source
• DNR RID=104 Rodefeld record FID 113127300 lists 1919 Alliant Energy Center Way, Madison 53713-1400, while county landfill page gives customer location 7102 Maahic Way, Madison 53718. Preserve both; registry address may be administrative but that explanation is not verified. Source
• La Crosse FAQ directs arrivals to 3240 Berlin Drive; DNR RID=104 FID 632063630 lists 3200 Berlin Dr, La Crosse 54601-1818. Keep source-address discrepancy explicit rather than overwriting either. Source
• Wisconsin DNR list of materials banned from landfills/incinerators (containers, cardboard, paper, #1-2 plastics, electronics, lead-acid batteries, major appliances, oil filters/waste oil, tires, yard waste) does not include mattresses. Source
• Wisconsin DNR: residents find their local recycling 'responsible unit' via an RU contact list, an RU map (experience.arcgis.com/experience/e2a75fccdc834fd5be13acd9fede067f) or a municipality-to-RU lookup. Source