What Happens to a Worn-Out Mattress and Box Spring in Anderson

A worn-out mattress is taken apart and recycled, not buried, wherever a collection site exists. The notes at junk removal anderson ca andrew h moeller treat a mattress as a common single item in Anderson junk hauling, and California runs a statewide mattress recycling program that has changed where these items are allowed to go. A box spring is handled the same way, since it is a wood frame wrapped in fabric and metal.

Why are mattresses hard to dispose of?

They are bulky, springy and slow to break down, and they tend to float to the top of a landfill and damage equipment. A mattress left on a roadside near Interstate 5 or in a creek bed along Clear Creek is also a cleanup problem for the county. Collection sites and haulers in Shasta County therefore sort them from ordinary household trash.

What is inside a mattress?

Steel coils, foam, cotton or wool batting, wood slats and fabric. At a recycling facility each material is separated: steel goes to a scrap yard, foam is shredded for carpet padding, and wood is chipped. A mattress that is wet, moldy or infested with bedbugs is wrapped in plastic first so the pests do not spread to the truck or the next load.

How is a mattress carried out?

A queen is about sixty inches wide and flexes like a sheet of plywood, which makes it awkward on a narrow stair. The crew folds it carefully and slides it down the rail, or lowers it from a balcony with straps. Hallways in older homes near Cottonwood and Anderson River Park can need the door taken off its hinges to clear a king.

Can a mattress be donated?

Most charities do not take a used mattress, even a clean one, because of health rules about bedding. A new set still in plastic is a different case. A tidy frame and headboard are often accepted by thrift stores in Redding, and the mattress itself is sent for recycling.

What should be bagged before pickup?

Many sites ask that mattresses be kept dry and wrapped. A plastic cover keeps rain off a stack on the porch, and it protects the truck bed. In the winter storm months in Shasta County, a mattress left on a lawn takes on water quickly and becomes nearly twice as heavy.