After one year, the City of San Diego is celebrating the success of its Mattress Recycling Program in helping divert items from the landfill. Over the past year, more than 14,000 unwanted mattresses and box springs have been diverted – lined up end to end, that’s the equivalent of 311 football fields! Illegal dumping of these bulky items has decreased by 34%. 

“We are thrilled about the enthusiastic participation in our Mattress Recycling Program,” said Julie Sands, Recycling Program Manager for the City’s Environmental Services Department. “San Diegans are keeping our communities cleaner by helping us to reduce waste and keep these bulky items out of the landfill or, worse yet, on the side of the road.” 

San Diegans can drop off unwanted mattresses and box springs for free, Monday through Friday at the City’s Mattress Collection Site just outside the Miramar Landfill entrance. The City collects the units and sends them to a processing facility in Ontario, where they are broken down into four main components (steel, foam, fibers and wood), which are used to make hundreds of new products such as construction rebar, carpet padding, insulation and mulch.  

The program – which supports the City’s Climate Action Plan and Zero Waste Plan goals – is made possible thanks to the Mattress Recycling Council, which recycles 1.4 million mattresses per year statewide. 

Mattress collection hours are 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays (closed Saturdays and Sundays). Mattresses and box springs must not be severely damaged, wet, twisted, soiled or infested with bedbugs. Residents are allowed to drop off up to 10 units per trip, per day. More information is available at RecyclingWorks.com 

About the Environmental Services Department:

The Environmental Services Department (ESD) ensures that City of San Diego residents have a clean and safe environment. The department pursues waste management strategies that emphasize waste reduction; recycling and composting; and environmentally sound landfill management.