Los Angeles Mattress Disposal: Curbside Pickup and Recycling

Most mattress disposal advice written for Los Angeles was actually written for other cities. If you live inside the City of Los Angeles and your trash is collected by LA Sanitation & Environment (LASAN), Los Angeles mattress disposal is free, and you do not need a junk hauler or a plastic mattress bag. The City takes mattresses and box springs from your curb, on your normal trash day, at no additional charge.

This guide covers the City of Los Angeles and the LASAN curbside service area only. Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Culver City, West Hollywood, Inglewood, Torrance, Long Beach, and unincorporated Los Angeles County addresses are served by different programs — see the service-area check below before you schedule anything.

Los Angeles mattress disposal at a glance

• Free curbside pickup is the default route. LASAN describes its bulky item service as unlimited at no additional charge, and the accepted-items list explicitly names mattresses and box springs.
• Schedule first. Use the Online Service Request Form, the MyLA311 app, or the 24-hour Customer Care Center at 1-800-773-2489, at least one business day before your regular trash day.
• No item cap applies. The per-quarter and per-year bulky limits quoted on junk-removal sites match no official City of LA source; those caps belong to other jurisdictions.
• No wrap requirement exists. LASAN publishes no bagging, wrapping, or sealing rule for curbside bulky pickup, so there is no reason to buy a mattress bag.
• Replacing a bed? You have a free take-back right. California law requires the retailer to offer no-cost pickup of the old unit at delivery, including online orders, where pickup must be arranged within 30 days.
• Two wrong doors. S.A.F.E. Centers take household hazardous waste and e-waste only, not mattresses. Setting a mattress at the curb without a scheduled pickup is illegal dumping.

First, are you actually in the City of LA service area?

This single question decides everything else. LASAN curbside service covers the City of Los Angeles only — not neighboring independent cities, and not unincorporated Los Angeles County.

If you live in Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Culver City, West Hollywood, Inglewood, Torrance, or Long Beach, that city's own program or contract hauler serves your address. In unincorporated County areas, contact the hauler named on your trash bill. The Mattress Recycling Council also maintains a municipal pickup and hauler directory for LA-area residents who are not on LASAN service.

The item limits people find online belong to those other programs and get misattributed to Los Angeles constantly. Check your service area before you rely on anything in this guide — and clear your address even if your mailing address says "Los Angeles," because some LA mailing addresses sit outside the City limits.

How to schedule free curbside mattress pickup

There are three official channels, and they all reach the same service:

• Online Service Request Form on the LASAN bulky item page
• MyLA311 app (or myla311.lacity.gov)
• 24-hour Customer Care Center: 1-800-773-2489

The rules that trip people up:

• Give at least one business day's notice before your regular collection day. That is the minimum, not a guarantee that tomorrow will work.
• Pickup lands on your regular refuse day — the same day your bins are serviced.
• Itemize the list. LASAN asks for detail such as "one mattress, two box springs" so the right truck is dispatched.
• Set the item out only after the request is filed. Drivers collect scheduled items, and a mattress at the curb without a work order is treated as illegal dumping.

Keep your confirmation or work-order number. It traces the request if the truck passes you by.

What happens to your mattress: LASAN collection and Bye Bye Mattress recycling

The Mattress Recycling Council's official Los Angeles page states that its Bye Bye Mattress program recycles mattresses collected by LASAN, and it directs LASAN-serviced residents to LASAN Customer Care at 1-800-773-2489.

It is worth stating that precisely, because the two agencies frame it differently. MRC, which administers the program, makes the recycling claim. LASAN's own pages describe items as collected, transferred, recycled, and/or disposed of safely without naming Bye Bye Mattress. So the accurate statement is: the recycling program's own official page says LASAN-collected mattresses are recycled through Bye Bye Mattress.

The framework behind all of this is California's Used Mattress Recovery and Recycling Act (Public Resources Code 42985–42994, established 2013), created to reduce illegal dumping, increase recycling, and cut public agency costs. CalRecycle oversees the statewide program; the nonprofit Mattress Recycling Council administers it.

Because collected mattresses are routed to recycling, keep the unit reasonably dry and clean before you set it out. A soaked or heavily soiled mattress is harder to recover.

Buying a new mattress? Your free take-back right under California law

This is the highest-value route for anyone replacing a bed, and very few people know it exists.

Under Public Resources Code 42992 (Article 7 of the Act), since July 1, 2014 a retailer must offer you the option to have your used mattress picked up for recovery at no additional cost when your new mattress is delivered. The retailer may contract the pickup to a third party, and it may still charge delivery or set-up fees for the new mattress. The free part is the removal of the old unit.

Since January 1, 2021, this extends to common-carrier and online deliveries: the retailer must offer to arrange pickup of the used unit within 30 days of delivery. On an online order, the delivery carrier usually will not take the old mattress at the door — the retailer has 30 days to arrange collection.

The exceptions, precisely:

• The retailer may refuse a used mattress it determines is contaminated and poses a risk to personnel, new products, or equipment.
• When take-back is refused on those grounds, the recycling charge is not refunded.
• Retailers may, but are not required to, recycle the units they take back.
• Procedures vary by retailer — the law sets minimums only. Confirm the take-back offer at purchase.

For renters this route is ideal: the mattress is removed from inside the unit, and housing type is irrelevant. A renter who buys a delivered mattress has exactly the same take-back entitlement as a homeowner.

The California mattress recycling charge, explained

Every mattress and box spring sold in California carries a mattress recycling charge of $18.00 per unit as of January 1, 2025, according to the Mattress Recycling Council's FAQ. Older published figures you may see elsewhere are out of date — check the line item on a current receipt rather than trusting an old blog post.

CalRecycle's enforcement rules require the charge to appear as a separate, clearly visible, non-taxable line item on invoices and receipts, and retailers selling mattresses in or into California must register with the approved mattress recycling organization.

This is a retail charge paid at purchase, not a disposal fee. You are not paying to throw a mattress away — you paid it when you bought the mattress, and it funds the statewide program behind free curbside pickup and free drop-off.

Bye Bye Mattress drop-off: find a site and know what is accepted

If you have a vehicle and want the mattress gone today, free drop-off is a legitimate route.

• Cost: no additional cost at participating collection sites.
• Condition: in California, all mattresses and box springs are accepted regardless of condition or purchase date — the friendliest route for a stained or worn unit.
• Covered units: mattresses, box springs and foundations, and futon mattresses, the last added by AB 187. Crib mattresses are not covered in California.
• Limitation: the program does not pick up from homes; you transport the unit yourself.

Use the address locator on byebyemattress.com to find the nearest participating site, and check its hours before loading a truck. Consumer questions: 1-855-229-1691.

Monthly free LASAN drop-off events: what is confirmed and what is not

LASAN runs free monthly bulky item drop-off events: one Saturday a month, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, at five locations — East Valley (11050 Pendelton St, Sun Valley), West Valley (8840 Vanalden Ave, Northridge), Harbor (1400 N Gaffey St, San Pedro), West LA (2027 Stoner Ave), and Central LA (2201 E Washington Blvd). The published 2026 Saturdays are January 10, February 14, March 14, April 11, May 9, June 13, July 11, August 8, September 19, October 10, November 21, and December 12.

Here is where this guide parts company with much of the internet: mattress acceptance at these events is not officially confirmed. The official accepted-items copy lists furniture, carpet, yard trimmings, shelving, and wood — mattresses are not named.

Do not load a mattress into a truck on a Saturday assuming it will be taken. Check a current official LASAN flyer that explicitly names mattresses before you drive; until then, treat scheduled curbside pickup as the verified route.

The event rules that do appear — one visit per Saturday, a two-ton vehicle limit, and residency proof with a current LADWP bill plus state ID — come from LASAN's third-party event listing, so confirm them before relying on them. The five locations, the hours, and the 2026 dates are official.

Which Los Angeles mattress disposal route fits your situation?

Two exclusions belong right beside that table. S.A.F.E. Centers do not accept mattresses — they take household hazardous waste and e-waste, with a state transport limit of 15 gallons or 125 pounds per vehicle per visit. And bulky items cannot go in or beside your regular bins.

Apartments, renters, and buildings of five or more units

Buildings of five or more units inside the City of LA: LASAN collects bulky items including mattresses from residents of these buildings. Schedule an appointment through Customer Care at 1-800-773-2489 with an itemized list; collection is on-call rather than tied to a bin day.

Buildings served by a recycLA Franchise Hauler: if the property does not pay trash fees directly to LA Sanitation, the property pays the Multi-Family Bulky Item Fee on its LADWP bill. Rates increased effective November 2025 under an ordinance approved in October 2025, and the fee funds unlimited on-demand bulky pickup for those buildings. Dollar rates are not published here — the fee relationship runs between the hauler or owner and LASAN, not the tenant, so ask building management. Discount and exemption options exist for low-income ratepayers.

Three renter edge cases:

• You cannot carry it downstairs. LASAN collects from the curb or set-out point, not from inside units. Without help you need management, a porter, or a paid in-home hauling service.
• Your name is not on the building's LADWP bill. Drop-off event rules require the resident to be present with a current LADWP bill plus state ID, so a renter not named on the bill may not clear that check. Scheduled curbside pickup sidesteps the problem entirely.
• You are vacating. Dumping a mattress beside the dumpsters or in a commercial bin is illegal dumping. Use a scheduled pickup, retailer take-back, or a drop-off — and allow the one-business-day notice before a move-out date.

Prep and safety before the mattress leaves your home

• Schedule first, then set out. The mattress goes to the curb only after your request is filed.
• Use the designated set-out point on your regular trash day — visible from the street and not blocking the sidewalk. Official pages state no exact set-out hour for bulky items, so do not rely on an invented deadline; city bin rules (out by 6:00 AM, removed by 8:00 PM) apply to bins, not bulky items.
• Do not wrap it. There is no LASAN wrap, bagging, or sealing requirement, so do not buy a mattress bag. Keep the unit reasonably dry and clean instead, since collected mattresses are recycled.
• Contaminated units need a call first. With bedbugs or heavy soiling, retailers may refuse take-back and recycling sites may decline it. Call LASAN at 1-800-773-2489 or the collection site about safe handling.
• Try donation first for a clean unit. LASAN encourages donating furniture in good condition through thrift stores, charities, and community exchange apps — although bedbug history disqualifies a donation.
• Keep hazardous waste out of the mattress stream. Paints, solvents, chemicals, and e-waste go to a S.A.F.E. Center, never the curb beside a mattress.

Common mistakes that cost LA residents time or money

1. Believing there is an item cap. No per-quarter or per-year limit applies to LASAN curbside bulky items.
2. Calling LASAN from a neighboring city. Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Culver City, West Hollywood, Inglewood, Torrance, and Long Beach run their own programs.
3. Setting the mattress out before scheduling. Unscheduled bulky set-out is illegal dumping.
4. Buying a plastic mattress bag. No such requirement exists for LASAN curbside pickup.
5. Assuming a monthly drop-off event will take it. The official accepted-items list does not name mattresses.
6. Treating a junk-removal price as the going rate. Private hauling prices here are provider-set and unverified.

FAQ

Is mattress disposal really free in Los Angeles? Yes, for City of LA residents served by LASAN. Curbside bulky collection, mattresses and box springs included, is unlimited at no additional charge, and both Bye Bye Mattress drop-off and retailer take-back are free as well. The one charge that exists in this chain is a retail recycling charge paid when a mattress is bought, not a disposal fee.

Do I need to wrap my mattress in plastic for pickup? No. LASAN publishes no wrap, bagging, or sealing requirement for curbside bulky pickup.

Will the monthly LASAN drop-off event take my mattress? Not confirmed. Official event copy lists furniture, carpet, yard trimmings, shelving, and wood without naming mattresses. Check a current official flyer or schedule curbside pickup instead.

I'm buying a new mattress. Can the old one be hauled away free? Yes. Under PRC 42992 the retailer must offer no-cost pickup of the old unit at delivery, and for online or common-carrier orders must offer to arrange pickup within 30 days of delivery. Delivery or set-up fees for the new mattress may still apply, and a contaminated unit may be refused.

What is the $18 charge on my mattress receipt? California's mattress recycling charge, $18.00 per unit as of January 1, 2025, applied to each mattress and box spring sold in the state. It must appear as a separate, non-taxable line item — a purchase charge, not a disposal fee.

I live in a building with more than five units. What do I do? Schedule an appointment through Customer Care at 1-800-773-2489 with an itemized list, coordinate set-out with building management, and ask whether the property pays the Multi-Family Bulky Item Fee.

Can I drop a mattress at a S.A.F.E. Center? No. S.A.F.E. Centers accept household hazardous waste and e-waste only, with a 15-gallon or 125-pound per-visit transport limit. Route paints, solvents, chemicals, and e-waste there — and the mattress to curbside pickup, take-back, or a Bye Bye Mattress site.

Official verification checklist

Fees, event dates, take-back procedures, and program details change. Before relying on any route here:

1. Confirm your address is inside the City of Los Angeles / LASAN curbside service area, and confirm your regular trash collection day.
2. Build your itemized list — for example "one mattress, two box springs."
3. Schedule through the Online Service Request Form, the MyLA311 app, or 1-800-773-2489, at least one business day before collection.
4. Set the unit out only after the request is filed, unwrapped and clear of the sidewalk.
5. If you are buying a new mattress, confirm the take-back offer with the retailer at purchase.
6. If you are hauling it yourself, check a Bye Bye Mattress site's hours and accepted units before driving.
7. In a 5+ unit building, ask management who schedules pickup and whether the Multi-Family Bulky Item Fee applies.
8. Before relying on a monthly drop-off event, verify a current official flyer that names mattresses.
9. Route paints, solvents, chemicals, and e-waste to a S.A.F.E. Center — never a mattress.

Official sources

• LA Sanitation & Environment — Schedule a Bulky Item Pickup: https://sanitation.lacity.gov/services/schedule-bulky-item-pickup
• LA Sanitation — Bulky Item Collection: https://lacitysan.org/bulky
• LA Sanitation — Multi-Family Bulky Item Fee: https://sanitation.lacity.gov/san/faces/home/portal/s-lsh-au/s-lsh-au-r/s-lsh-au-r-mfbif
• LA Sanitation — S.A.F.E. Centers: https://sanitation.lacity.gov/safecenters
• LASAN monthly bulky item drop-off events, 2026 listing: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-monthly-bulky-item-drop-off-events-tickets-764789184037
• Mattress Recycling Council — Los Angeles mattress pickup: https://byebyemattress.com/los-angeles-mattress-pickup
• Bye Bye Mattress — FAQ: https://byebyemattress.com/faq
• Bye Bye Mattress — California retailer pickup FAQ: https://byebyemattress.com/california/ca-faqs
• Mattress Recycling Council — Retailer take-back: https://mattressrecyclingcouncil.org/retailer-take-back
• CalRecycle — Used Mattress Recovery and Recycling Act: https://calrecycle.ca.gov/mattresses/prc
• CalRecycle — Mattress EPR enforcement: https://calrecycle.ca.gov/epr/enforcement/mattress-epr-enforcement

Related guides: Los Angeles furniture disposal, Los Angeles appliance disposal, Los Angeles e-waste disposal.