Can you put a mattress in a skip?

5th Dec, 2018

You probably don’t think much about your mattress on a day to day basis. Since they’re normally around for at least a couple of years, in fact, you probably think about it very little at all. When the time comes to get rid of it though, it often suddenly takes up a fair bit of headspace. Mattresses tend to be one of the trickier bulky household waste objects to dispose of, as you generally can’t put them in a skip. So, what are your options?

How long do mattresses last?

The length of time a mattress will last will be dependent upon the type of mattress you have (pocket-sprung, memory foam, etc.). But if you can’t remember how long you’ve had your mattress for, it might be worth considering or not whether to buy a new one. Even if your mattress still feels comfortable after an extended period of time, it’s more than likely to be providing you with less support, and it’ll be far less hygienic than it was when it was new. The Sleep Council recommends investing in a new mattress every seven years. Seven years will see over 20,000 hours of mattress use on average, and considering adults lose half a pint of fluid every night and shed a pound of dead skin cells each year, chucking out your mattress after such a length of time doesn’t sound like such a bad idea!

Handy ways to get rid of your old mattress

It may be surprising how many different options there are for disposing of your old mattress, with varying costs involved. We would always recommend trying to find a service which involves recycling your mattress, either in part or as a whole. Statistics suggest that approximately 7.5 million mattresses are discarded in the UK every year, and far too many of those end up in landfill. It’s bad for the environment and highly unsustainable – all stuff we’re dead against here at Skip Hire Network!

1) Ask the council

The vast majority of local councils offer a bulky waste collection and disposal service. This covers items such as beds and mattresses and may even include a service for white goods, such as fridges, freezers and washing machines. Some (very few) local councils will offer to collect your mattress for free, but the majority will offer a collection and disposal service for a fee (which can be quite expensive!). As well as this, your waste items will often have to be left in a designated spot outside your home in order for them to be collected, so you may need help with taking bulkier items outside.   

Contacting the council to dispose of your mattress is probably the most convenient option, as you won’t have to try and squeeze your mattress into the back of your car. However, there’s no guarantee that your mattress won’t end up in a landfill, so it’s not the best option to go for when considering effects on the environment.

2) Donate

If your mattress still has some life in it, you should consider donating it to a charity or even giving it away to someone in need. This way you can help a fellow human being whilst also helping the environment in ensuring your mattress isn’t ending up in landfill.

Large organisations such as British Heart Foundation and British Red Cross will resell your mattress and donate the money to a worthy cause. Others, such as the Furniture Donation Network, will give your mattress directly to someone who needs it.

Often charities such as these will offer to collect your mattress free of charge, but they may ask that you send images across beforehand to prove that it’s in an acceptable condition. Any organisation accepting a mattress donation will need to ensure that it’s fit for use, clean and has a fire label attached and intact.

3) Recycle

In most cases, your mattress will be fit for recycling either in part or as a whole. You can always ask our experts here at Skip Hire Network, either when you hire a skip or when we come to collect it. Whether or not we’re able to take it ourselves, you can generally rely on our experts to have a few sustainable suggestions!

Although your mattress may not be able to be disposed of in a skip, there are plenty of other bulky household items that can be! Read up on the items you can and can’t dispose of in a skip, or if you’d like to hire a skip simply enter your postcode for a quick quote – it couldn’t be simpler!