How to Dispose of a Mattress in Fresno, Madera, and the Central Valley (2026 Guide)

A worn-out mattress is one of the most awkward things to get rid of. It will not fit in a cart, it cannot go loose at the landfill, and it is heavy and unwieldy to move. Here is how mattress disposal actually works across the Central Valley, the free route and the easy route, so you can pick whichever fits your day.

Can you throw a mattress in the trash in California?

No. A mattress will not fit in a curbside cart, and California keeps used mattresses out of the landfill because most of what is inside can be recycled. The steel springs, foam, wood, and fabric are stripped and reused, so roughly three-quarters of a typical mattress stays out of the dump. That is good for the Valley, and it is the reason the state built a free recycling program instead of letting mattresses pile up on the curb.

The free option: recycle it through Bye Bye Mattress

California runs a statewide mattress recycling program called Bye Bye Mattress, paid for by a small recycling fee you already covered when you bought the mattress. Because that fee is collected up front, dropping an old mattress or box spring at a participating site costs you nothing.

In Fresno, the closest drop-off for most people is the Cedar Avenue Recycling and Transfer Station at 3457 South Cedar Avenue. Madera and Clovis residents, and most of the Central Valley, can use the same network of sites. You can find the location nearest you at byebyemattress.com.

A few rules keep the program running, so plan around them:

• The mattress needs to be clean, dry, and free of pests. Recyclers cannot accept anything soaked, moldy, or carrying bed bugs.
• Mattresses and box springs are accepted. Pillows, mattress toppers, cots, water beds, and sleeping bags are not.
• Keep it dry on the way there. A mattress left in a truck bed through a rainstorm can be turned away at the gate.

If a trip across town with a mattress strapped to the roof is not realistic, this is exactly the step Superior Hauling takes off your hands. We load it and route it to the recycler ourselves, so it still stays out of the landfill and you never touch it.

When it makes more sense to call for mattress removal

Free recycling is the right call when you have a truck, a clear path out of the house, and time to make the trip. Plenty of jobs do not look like that. Mattress removal is worth it when:

• You do not have a vehicle that fits a mattress, or you would rather not tie one to the roof of the car.
• The mattress is coming down a flight of stairs or out of a tight apartment and you do not want to wrestle it alone.
• You are clearing more than one item, like an old bed frame, a dresser, and the mattress together.
• The mattress is soiled or has bed bugs, since the free recycler will turn those away and they need special handling.
• You simply want it gone today without a trip across town.

Mattress removal is priced by the item and how much room it takes, plus the labor to get it out and the recycling step at the end. We do not guess over the phone and pad the number. Because Sedric looks at the job first, the price you are quoted is the price that holds when the truck pulls away. Send a photo or book a quick look, and here is how a pickup works on our junk removal service.

What about box springs, bed frames, and toppers?

Box springs recycle the same way a mattress does and go to the same free drop-off sites. Metal and wood bed frames are recyclable too, and we can take those along with the mattress. Toppers, pillows, and water beds are the exception, since the Bye Bye Mattress program does not accept them, but Superior Hauling can still carry those off with the rest of your load so nothing gets left behind in the bedroom.

How to prep a mattress for pickup or drop-off

Pull the sheets and the mattress protector first, since those are laundry, not recycling. Keep the mattress dry, and if the weather looks wet, cover it with a tarp or an old sheet for the trip. If you have had any sign of bed bugs, say so up front so it can be bagged and handled the right way. That is all the prep a mattress needs, and if you book a pickup we will tell you anything specific to your load ahead of time.

Clearing out more than a mattress?

If the mattress is part of a bigger job, like a full bedroom set, a garage, or a whole rental turnover, it is usually cheaper to clear it all at once. For a hands-off cleanup where everything leaves today, full-service junk removal bundles the labor and disposal into one price. For a longer project you fill on your own schedule, a roll-off dumpster rental can be the better value. This is where a local, veteran-owned crew earns its keep: Superior runs junk removal, bins, Bobcat work, and material delivery, so one call covers the whole cleanout across the Central Valley instead of juggling three companies, and we will tell you honestly which option saves you money.

Frequently asked questions