What mattress recycling costs in St. Louis

The short answer

For a City of St. Louis household, the monthly bulky pickup is already paid for through the $14 per month per unit solid-waste fee, so the cash cost is zero if your mattress qualifies and you can wait for your week. A self-haul to a transfer station costs your time, fuel and a truck. A flat pickup from inside the home is $82 for a twin, $94 for a full, $103 for a queen and $114 for a king.

Why there is no recycling fee to look up

In a few states, buyers pay a mattress-recycling fee at the register and the state funds drop-off sites with it. California, Connecticut and Rhode Island are the usual examples. We have not found a Missouri program like that, and Illinois is a separate state with its own rules. So in St. Louis there is no prepaid recycling network and no single statewide price for mattress recycling.

What you pay instead depends on which route you use: your municipal collection, your own truck, or a pickup service. The real comparison is between those three.

Route 1: City bulky pickup (already in your bill)

City residents pay $14 a month per unit for solid waste, billed quarterly on the water bill. That covers monthly bulky collection: items out by 6:00 am on the Monday of your collection week, in the alley if your block has one, up to three items, nothing over 100 lbs, 6 ft long or 2 ft in diameter.

The hidden cost is time and fit. Standard mattresses are 75 to 80 inches long, over the 6-foot limit on paper, so confirm with the City before relying on it. If you miss your week, the next chance is a month away, and the mattress lives in your hallway or your basement until then. A mattress and box spring are also two of your three items, which leaves room for only one more piece that month.

Route 2: the transfer station

City residents can drop off at the North or South transfer station, Monday to Friday, 8:00 to 4:00, with ID and a water or solid-waste bill. You get 12 loads a year. A load is what fits a half-ton pickup, up to 5 by 8 by 4 feet.

What it costs you in practice:

• A pickup truck, borrowed or rented, because a queen will not fit in a car.
• A weekday during business hours.
• Two people to carry it down the stairs of a brick flat and load it.
• Straps and a tarp, plus the fuel.

If you already own the truck and work from home, it is cheap. If you are renting a truck for the morning and taking time off, a $103 pickup often comes out ahead.

Route 3: County and Metro East households

If you live in Kirkwood, Webster Groves, Florissant, Chesterfield, unincorporated Oakville or Mehlville, or across the river in Belleville or Edwardsville, the City's fee and the City's transfer stations are not yours. Your city or trash district contracts a hauler, and that hauler's bulky policy decides whether a mattress is included, needs scheduling, or carries an extra charge. Check your bill or your city's trash page before you assume.

Route 4: flat pickup prices

The set price matters. A queen plus a box spring separately is $103 + $92 = $195; as a set it is $143. The price includes carry-out from any floor, loading and disposal, and we recycle whatever we can. The order minimum is $100, so a lone twin at $82 bills at $100.

Wet, damaged and bug-affected mattresses

Not every mattress leaves on a good day. After heavy rain, a guest bed stored in a St. Louis basement can be soaked through, and wet mattresses are far heavier than dry ones. Flooding near the rivers, in Valley Park and Chesterfield Valley, has produced exactly this kind of cleanup. Photograph water damage for insurance before it goes.

For a mattress with bed bugs, wrap it fully in plastic sheeting or a mattress bag and tape it shut before it moves through the house. That keeps the problem in the bedroom and off the shared stair of a flat. Tell us when you book so the crew knows what to expect. The price is the same list price, and a wrapped mattress is carried out like any other. Do not leave a bug-affected mattress in a shared alley, where neighbors may pick it up.

Worked examples from real St. Louis homes

• Tower Grove South flat, guest room: full mattress and metal frame, $94 + $68 = $162.
• St. Louis Hills bungalow, two kids' rooms: two twin sets would be priced as mattress plus box spring each, or as sets — two sets are $143 + $143 = $286.
• CWE apartment move-out: king mattress plus a futon from the second bedroom, $114 + $111 = $225.
• Florissant ranch, basement guest bed: queen set and a daybed, $143 + $89 = $232.
• Skinker-DeBaliviere student flat: three twin mattresses left at lease end, $82 + $82 + $82 = $246.

Each price is shown before you book and only changes if you approve.

How to keep the cost down

If you are in the City and have one mattress and a month to spare, use the bulky pickup if it qualifies — you already paid for it. If you have a truck and a weekday, the transfer station is fine. Otherwise, bundle: a mattress pickup is a good moment to clear the broken dresser and the bags in the basement on the same visit, since each item is priced from the same published list.

Timing helps too. May and August are busy around SLU, WashU and the Delmar Loop, when student and resident leases turn over, so book early in those weeks. Get the number first from a photo at the instant quote page.

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