How to Dispose of a Mattress in Canada

On average, Canadians throw away over 6 million mattresses annually into landfills. These mattresses can take up to 120 years to fully decompose, leaking chemicals as they break down. Other mattresses have expensive materials that could be repurposed for other products if adequately recovered.

Sleepers who want a new mattress often struggle to know what to do with their old one. Each municipality has its own regulations and guidelines, which can be mind-numbing to sort through when you just need a good night’s sleep as easily as possible.

That’s why I’ve compiled all the ways to learn how to dispose of a mattress in Canada that are environmentally friendly, easy, and cost-effective. I also look at how individual municipalities suggest disposing of mattresses, so you have a better idea of safe and legal practices for getting rid of your old mattress.

Let’s dive in.

Key Takeaways

• Mattresses in good condition can be resold, donated, or recycled more easily than poor-quality mattresses.
• Mattress disposal rules change from city to city, so always check with your municipality.

How to Dispose of a Good-quality Mattress

To learn how to dispose of a mattress in Canada that’s good quality, you need to look at the cover and construction for signs of wear and tear. If it is free of stains and body impressions, you can consider re-selling your mattress or donating it to a local charity.

How to Dispose of a Poor-quality Mattress

Poor-quality mattresses with minimal stains, tears, or impressions or are otherwise not of good enough quality for re-selling or donating can be recycled instead. Most mattress recycling companies will accept worn or well-used mattresses as long as they are moderately clean. 

Recycle Your Mattress

Recycling is an excellent mattress disposal option for well-used mattresses. Companies like Canadian Mattress Recycling will accept dry and moderately clean mattresses. However, it is essential to remember mattresses that are soaking, mouldy, have pests like bed bugs, or are exceptionally dirty, may be rejected.

Most recycling facilities will recycle mattresses for a small fee, allowing you to drop off the item for recycling. Recycling facilities usually also offer a pick-up option if you live nearby. This is more costly but allows you the convenience of having someone else remove your mattress for you.

Recycling is an environmentally-friendly option as most materials can be reused, saving your mattress from clogging up the landfill. Some of the best luxury mattresses in Canada are happily recycled as the materials can be more easily repurposed. The quilting, memory foam, polyfoam, and latex layers of mattresses are often shredded for carpet padding (1). The steel coils within innerspring and the best hybrid mattresses are highly sought after as they can be repurposed as scrap metal for various markets. This allows at least 95% percent of a mattress to be reused, a huge step towards less landfill waste (2).

Although you may be unable to sell or donate your mattress, this option helps reuse the valuable materials inside your mattress. Recycling your mattress also means you avoid landfill fees, as recycling is often more cost-effective than mattress disposal at a landfill.

How to Get Rid of a Hazardous Mattress

The best way to dispose of a mattress that’s hazardous is to throw it away. Unsafe mattresses are usually unfit for re-selling, donating, or recycling due to the health risk they pose. Dangerous mattresses typically have pests like bed bugs or are wet, moldy, or soiled. These mattresses are best suited for a landfill, as they are harmful to be kept nearby or reused.

Throw Away Your Mattress

Throwing away your bed depends on which city you live in and how far away you live from town. Some cities offer regular large-item pick-ups for disposal, while others only provide large-item pick-ups a few times a year. Smaller towns usually recommend going straight to the landfill yourself to drop off the mattress.

If your bed is hazardous and the city’s waste disposal service is coming to pick it up, it should be wrapped in plastic and marked. That way, the workers don’t become accidentally contaminated when hauling away your old mattress.

If there is no city-provided waste management, you can contact junk removal companies like 1-800-Got-Junk. They can remove your bed for a fee, so you don’t have to struggle moving it up and down stairs or loading it into a truck.

Usually, if you take a mattress to a landfill, there will be a fee for dropping it off based on weight. However, this is more cost-effective than having junk removers drop off your mattress for you.

Pro Tip: If you prefer recycling instead of throwing away a bed with pests, consider treating it with a professional pest control company. Be sure to keep the treatment papers handy so the recycling company knows the mattress is clean. 

Also Read: How to Get Pee Out of a Mattress

How to Dispose of a Mattress in Canada Based on its Type?

There are different ways to dispose of a mattress based on its type, explained below.

Memory Foam Mattresses

Memory foam mattresses are toxic, slowly leaking chemicals that can seep into water systems if left in a landfill.

For this reason, more effort should be placed on disposing of a memory foam mattress by selling, donating, or recycling it.

Memory foam can be fully recycled, with the foam being shredded and reused for carpet padding and any soft foam application. Even if the foam has stains, it can be fully recovered by being melted down.

Memory foam may sag prematurely if it is open-cell or has a light density, making it unfit for re-selling or donating due to the lack of spinal support. In this case, recycling is an excellent option for disposing of a mattress.

Memory foam that is denser and firmer makes for some of the best firm mattresses in Canada that won’t lose their shape quickly. These can be gifted or donated more easily.

If you are looking for a memory foam mattress to replace your old mattress, some of Canada's best memory foam mattresses try to follow best practices, using certifications to show they use fewer chemicals.

How Does Mattress Disposal Change Between Municipalities?

Mattress disposal can drastically change between municipalities, as some will pick up your mattress while others will only have drop-off options.

Toronto and Edmonton have services that pick up mattresses from your home, while Vancouver and Calgary ask that the bed is dropped off at their local recycling stations or landfills.

Edmonton, in particular, offers occasional free days for their Eco Station drop-off and waste pick-up services. Vancouver also increased fees to drop off mattresses at the landfill, hoping to encourage more people to drop them off at the recycling stations instead.

How to Dispose of a Mattress in Toronto

To dispose of a mattress in Toronto, the city council recommends donating it first, then considering binning it. Donations keep unnecessary or good-condition mattresses out of the landfill.

To bin the bed, the City of Toronto suggests placing it 2 feet (0.5 metres) away from your garbage bin on garbage day. Depending on your location, garbage collection happens once every two weeks. This is a convenient and free way to dispose of your mattress, as you only have to move it to the curbside on the right day for the city to take it away.

The City of Toronto does recommend wrapping the mattress in plastic if it contains pests. That means the waste disposal service will know it's hazardous and treat it with extra care when they arrive.

How to Dispose of a Mattress in Vancouver

The City of Vancouver recommends disposing of a mattress in two main ways: dropping it off at a recycling station or a landfill or hiring a waste removal company to move it for you. Of these three options, dropping it off at a designated transfer station is the most cost-effective.

The City of Vancouver does have a fee for illegally dumping a mattress on the curb or in an alley. This is important to remember if you are considering your options for getting rid of your bed in this city.

How to Dispose of a Mattress in Calgary

The City of Calgary has many options for disposing of a mattress but mainly recommends recycling it. If the bed is of good enough quality, the city also recommends dropping it off at a local charity, like the Women in Need Thrift Store. However, poor-quality or broken mattresses are recommended to go to the landfill.

According to Statistics Canada, the province of Alberta, including Calgary, have the highest number of recycling facilities (3). That means cities like Calgary offer many easy, convenient, affordable, and environmentally friendly recycling options.

However, unlike the City of Toronto, the City of Calgary does not collect mattresses from homes. Instead, if you need someone to transport your bed for you, it is best to hire a local junk removal or recycling company that can take the mattress away.

How to Dispose of a Mattress in Edmonton

The best way to dispose of a mattress in Edmonton is to recycle it at one of their Eco Stations or deposit it at the landfill.

Eco Stations are one of the most cost-effective ways to get rid of a mattress, costing only about $18 per mattress. They also occasionally hold free drop-off days that can be found on their calendar. That means if you’re not in a rush, you can time your mattress drop-off so it’s entirely free.

The bonus with disposing of a bed in the City of Edmonton lies in its Big Bin Events, where people can put mattresses and other large items out on the curb to be picked up by the city. This convenience is similar to the City of Toronto but not as frequent.

My Experience with Disposing of a Mattress in Canada

In my experience with disposing of a mattress, I have found taking care of it is a handy first step. If it’s a good enough condition, I have more options on what to do with it when I want to replace it. That means keeping stains to a minimum and ensuring the cover doesn’t become torn, wet, or soiled.

For example, I had a soft memory foam mattress I couldn’t bring when I moved cities. I ended up giving this to a friend who needed it. When I wanted to upgrade my other bed soon after I moved, I put the old mattress up for sale online. Because it was in good condition, it sold quickly, and I had space to buy and set up my new bed effortlessly.

FAQ

Conclusion

Disposing of a mattress doesn’t have to be an embarrassing and costly headache. Depending on where you live, your city may already have mattress disposal options like curbside pick-up. Or, you can organize someone to buy your mattress off your hands if it’s of good enough quality, or you can donate it.

If you cannot move the mattress, many junk removal companies will come out to haul away junk so you don’t have to strain yourself over getting rid of your mattress. That means you can enjoy your new mattress and a well-deserved sleep sooner.

Still have questions about how to dispose of a mattress in Canada? Alex Savy, the Co-Founder and Chief Editor at Comfynorth has reviewed countless sleep products with over 4 years in the industry and can help you find what you’re looking for. Reach out through email at [email protected]. When emailing Alex, include your full name and phone number or email address.