Mattress recycling cost in Orlando

The short answer

Florida is not one of the few states that operate a state-level mattress recycling scheme funded at the point of sale, so there is no local program to enrol in and no fee to reclaim. Recycling here happens through private processors and whatever arrangement your own city or county has — check your solid-waste page for the current position at your address.

What we charge is the removal, and recycling routing where the mattress is a candidate for it: twin $82, full $94, queen $103, king or Cal King $114, box spring $92, or a mattress and box spring together at $143. There is no separate recycling fee added on top, and the per-visit minimum is $75.

What recycling a mattress actually means

It is a disassembly job, not a shredding job. A conventional mattress separates into four streams:

• Steel from the innerspring unit, which is the most valuable part and goes to scrap.
• Foam from the comfort layers, which can be re-bonded into carpet underlay and padding.
• Fiber and textile from the quilting and cover.
• Timber from a box spring's frame.

Roughly the great majority of a dry, intact mattress is recoverable this way. Which is exactly why the condition of the item decides whether recycling is even on the table.

Why Orlando's climate rules so many out

A wet mattress cannot be processed. Saturated foam cannot be re-bonded, wet textile fouls the separation, and the whole unit weighs far more to move. Processors reject them.

Central Florida produces wet mattresses at scale for two reasons. From June through September there is a storm most afternoons, so a mattress set out at the curb for a collection two or three days away has been rained on repeatedly before anyone collects it. And a mattress stored in a non-air-conditioned garage through a summer absorbs enough ambient moisture to grow mildew in the foam, which is a rejection for the same reason plus a health one.

The practical rule: a mattress that comes straight from an air-conditioned bedroom onto a truck has a real chance of being recycled. One that spent four days on a verge in July does not.

Memory foam, hybrids and the things that complicate it

Not every mattress is equally recyclable, whatever its condition.

All-foam and memory-foam mattresses have no steel to recover and the foam itself is less readily re-bonded than conventional polyurethane. Hybrids with pocketed coils glued into foam encasements are harder to separate than an old-fashioned innerspring. Pillow-top constructions with bonded layers resist disassembly. Anything with a gel or latex layer varies by processor.

Nobody should promise you a specific outcome for a specific mattress. What is honest to say is: dry and intact goes to the best available route, and wet or mildewed goes to proper disposal.

Where the DIY recycling route falls down here

People reasonably assume they can drive a mattress to a processor themselves. In practice, three things get in the way in this metro.

First, a queen does not fit in a car and will not stay on a roof at highway speed on the 408 or 417. So you are renting a truck, which means a rate, fuel, tolls and the gate charge at wherever you end up — check the current rate, it is set by weight or by load.

Second, drop-off availability varies and is not guaranteed for any particular material on any particular day. Confirm before you drive.

Third, the loading. Two people, in Florida heat, down an exterior stairwell. A $103 pickup removes all three problems and takes fifteen minutes.

The prices

The set price is the one to use if both are going: $143 against $103 + $92 = $195 for a queen and its box spring. Two mattresses out of a kids' room is $82 + $82 = $164. A whole bed is $143 + $68 = $211.

No recycling surcharge, no disposal fee, no weight ticket afterwards.

How to give your mattress the best chance

• Keep it indoors until the truck arrives. This is the whole game in Orlando.
• Do not stage it in the garage "for a week". One humid week is enough to start the problem.
• Book the removal for the same morning as the new mattress delivery, so it never spends a night outside.
• If it has already been rained on, say so — it still goes at the same price, it just routes differently.
• Keep the plastic if the new mattress arrived wrapped. Wrapping the old one keeps it dry on the carry and is required by some local set-out rules anyway.

Booking it

Say the size, the floor, and whether the box spring is going too. A flat price comes back before anyone drives out, and carry-out from any floor is included with no stair fee.

Morning slots are worth asking for between June and September, for the obvious reason: the afternoon belongs to the weather.

Frequently asked questions