If your pandemic home upgrades included getting a long-overdue new mattress, you might be asking yourself: what do I do with the old one? Unfortunately, mattresses are bulky and difficult to donate, making it tough to find a sustainable solution for their end of life. The good news is there are some ways to recycle a mattress and today we’re sharing them with you. 

Let’s start with how mattresses are recycled. The wood frames can be turned into wood chips that become particleboard, mulch, or animal bedding. The metal springs can be melted down into new products and the filling can become carpet underlay or used to reupholstering furniture. 

There are not many recycling services out there for mattresses, but 1-800-GOT-JUNK has launched a mattress recycling program across the US that allows for 80 to 90 percent of a mattress to be saved from the landfill. Give them a call or visit their website to put in your zip code and see if your mattress is eligible for recycling. 

Before being recycled, the mattresses are cleared of all contaminants, so don’t worry if your mattress is a little worse for wear or worse, has bed bugs. They will probably still accept it!

Finding ways to recycle and reuse worn goods is all part of building a circular economy and home goods play a huge role in this. If you have an old mattress lying around, give it new life by finding a local recycling service like Got Junk!