Reviewed September 21, 2026 against City and County sources. Confirm hours before you drive.
- 1Confirm the mattress or box spring is dry, not heavily soiled, and not infested with bedbugs.
- 2If you can haul it: take it to the City Mattress Collection Site at 5161 Convoy St, San Diego, CA 92111, Monday–Friday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- 3If it is wet, twisted, frozen, or infested, it cannot go through the free recycling line — it has to be discarded as trash.
- 4If you cannot lift or transport it, text Fred a photo for a posted pickup rate instead of leaving it on the street.
Free mattress recycling at Miramar
The City of San Diego Environmental Services Department runs a Mattress Collection Site as part of the Mattress Recycling Council’s Bye Bye Mattress program. It sits on the east side of the Miramar Landfill entrance at 5161 Convoy Street, 92111, next to the Household Hazardous Waste Transfer Facility. Mattresses and box springs drop off free Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. The site is closed Saturday, Sunday, and City-observed holidays (New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas).
There is no drop-off limit. Any mattress is eligible regardless of when you bought it, as long as it is not wet, heavily soiled, twisted, frozen, or infested with bedbugs. Units that fail that test have to go as trash. If you mix a recyclable mattress with other waste in the same load, regular landfill fees can apply to the rest of the pile.
The City reports that more than 51,000 mattresses and box springs have been diverted since the program opened, with illegal dumping of those items down about 41%. Processors break units into steel, foam, fiber, and wood for products such as rebar, carpet padding, insulation, and mulch. That is the legal recycling path. Leaving a mattress on a parkway or in an alley is illegal dumping — report it through Get It Done, do not copy it.
City bins, other cities, and pickup
A mattress does not go in the gray trash, blue recycling, or green organics bin. City collection rules list furniture, appliances, and items over 50 pounds as materials that must never go in any household container. The City of San Diego also does not currently run a routine bulky-item curbside program. Officials have said a bulky-item pickup that includes mattresses is planned for July 2027 as part of collection-service changes. Until that program actually starts, residents self-haul to Convoy Street or hire a hauler.
If you live outside City of San Diego collection — unincorporated county, Chula Vista, La Mesa, and other franchise cities — your trash company may offer bulky pickup. Unincorporated county franchise haulers advertise two free bulky-item collections a year for single-family customers, up to three items each, and mattresses are on that bulky list. Call the hauler on your bill before you drag a king set to the curb on the wrong week.
Fred’s Junk Removal is the pickup option when you cannot load a mattress into a car. Curbside starts at $69 when you stage it at a driveway, garage, or alley. Full-service from $130 if we carry from inside or upstairs. We take mattresses and box springs on the recycling path when they qualify, and we do not dump in alleys. Text a photo to (619) 245-9957.
Official sources
Need pickup instead of drop-off? See mattress removal or text a photo.
