How to get rid of a mattress in St. Francis, 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.

• St. Francis has a second, paid route for a large item that its own code authorizes and no published schedule prices. Chapter 386, Solid Waste, of the City of St. Francis code was adopted as the 1981 Code's sections 11.09, 11.13, 11.14 and 11.25, and section 386-2A puts collection in one pair of hands: "All refuse, garbage, rubbish and trash accumulated in the City shall be collected, conveyed and disposed of by the City's contractor." Section 386-2B(1) keeps a householder's own right to haul: "Actual producers of refuse or owners of premises upon which refuse has accumulated may personally collect, convey and dispose of the refuse in compliance with the provisions of this section." Section 386-2G(2), amended April 2, 2008 by Ord. No. 1255, then sets out "guidelines for fees which will be charged to the person requesting service under this program", and every figure in it is delegated away: "The minimum charge for special pickup is as provided in the current fee schedule on file with the City Clerk. This charge is for a pickup requiring two men and a truck for not more than 30 minutes and no single item weighing in excess of 150 pounds." The subsections that follow price extra time after 30 minutes per hour, items over 150 pounds per hour on top of the minimum, additional special equipment such as a loader or chipper, and a separate rate for any person 65 or over, each of them "as provided by the current fee schedule" and none of them carrying a number in the code. The code adds that "All pickups are curbside or alley. It is the duty of the resident to have it properly placed", and that payment falls due within 30 days of invoice, after which the city may place the charge on the tax roll under section 66.0627, Wis. Stats. A mattress weighs 50 to 100 pounds, so a single bed sits inside the 150-pound ceiling that defines the minimum charge, but the amount of that minimum is not published. The chapter also fixes the set-out window and the storage rules that govern anything put out: containers go to the point of collection "not more than 24 hours prior to collection" and come back "not more than 12 hours after collection", and they may not be placed or stored in the front yard, in the side yard if facing any City street, or "Unless at least 15 feet from any residence." Section 386-2K(2) forbids scavenging: no person may "scavenge, search through or remove from a container or other receptacle located on any public street, alley, parkway, right-of-way or other public property, nor private property, any combined refuse, garbage, newsprint or recyclables" set out for collection, which bars a passer-by from taking a bed off the curb. Penalties run under section 386-5 to the general penalty at section 1-4 of the Code, except in the recycling article, where section 386-4R(3) sets forfeitures of $50 for a first violation, $200 for a second and not more than $2,000 for a third or subsequent violation of the disposal prohibition, and not less than $10 nor more than $1,000 for any other violation of that section. Source Not confirmed: The minimum charge for a city special pickup under section 386-2G(2)(a) is set by "the current fee schedule on file with the City Clerk", and that schedule is not published on the city's website; no figure for it, for the extra-time rate, for the over-150-pound rate, for special equipment or for the reduced rate for a person 65 or over could be established. The city has committed to charging something for a special pickup and has not said what, so the special pickup must not be read as free - distinct from the contractor's bulk pickup, which the city does state is at no additional fee. Not confirmed: The code's special pickup and the hauler's twice-monthly bulk pickup are not reconciled anywhere by the city, so which route a resident is placed on when they call, and whether the paid route exists in practice now that bulk collection is included in the contract, is not established. Not confirmed: The annual refuse collection fee created under section 386-2J, collected on the real estate tax bill, is likewise set by the clerk's fee schedule and is not published; it is in any case a periodic charge for cart service and not a price for a bed. Not confirmed: Chapter 338, Littering and dumping, is cross-referenced from Chapter 386 but was not read, so St. Francis's dumping penalty is not established.

• 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