What Really Happens to My Old Mattress?

Ever wonder what happens to your old mattress once it’s picked up and hauled away?

While some junk removal companies do have a genuine commitment to being environmentally friendly, many junk removal companies say they recycle when they really just haul your junk straight to the landfill.

So how are you supposed to know which is which when choosing a junk removal company to dispose of your unwanted mattress set for you?

In this article, we’ll explain what happens to your old mattress after it’s hauled away and how you can tell if that “green” junk removal company is really going to get rid of it in a way that’s good for the planet.

Can a Mattress Even Be Recycled?

A lot of junk can be recycled or donated and most items, especially mattresses, fall into the recycling category.

Many junk removal companies have the ability to recycle a lot more material and scrap from junk items than you or I because they have access to more recycling resources than the average person.

Junk removal companies are able to recycle your old mattress and much of your junk so that it doesn’t end up in a landfill. In fact, you may even be using a lot of other people’s junk right now in your desk at home or at work.

Old mattresses are often recycled by removing certain useful materials like the fiber filling or metal springs and combining that material with other recycled mattress components to manufacture a new one.

So, how exactly does this mattress magic happen? Once your unwanted mattress is picked up by the junk removal company, it is dropped off at a recycling facility where it spends some time hanging out with its discarded mattress siblings.

Later, the mattresses are all inspected for bed bugs. Since they are considered hazardous, any bed bug mattresses are taken somewhere else to be destroyed in order to prevent spreading the infestations.

The remaining mattresses are sorted, and those that are wet from rain or snow are placed in a separate room to dry. Once the mattresses have been received and sorted, any fabric is taken off and the batting fiber inside is removed, which is used to manufacture new products.

All of the mattress materials are sorted into different components once it has all been removed. Innerspring mattresses and old box springs contain thick steel wire which is stripped away and baled using special machinery.

These steel bales are sent to a metal recycling plant where they are melted down and cast back into new steel. This recycled steel is used to produce new metal products.

Many of the mattresses we see today are made either partially or entirely of foam. When foam mattresses are recycled, most of the foam is shipped to factories to be cleaned and turned into new products such as foam padding for carpeting.

What Does the Junk Removal Company Do with My Mattress?

The junk industry includes junk removal companies of every shape, size, and business model you can imagine.

A junk removal company can be anything from a couple of guys with a pickup truck, a local family-owned hauling business, a licensed and insured corporation, to an enormous multinational franchise.

Many junk removal companies are really just a guy with a truck, so they usually take the junk they pick up to a landfill.

That’s because for a junk removal service to be able to recycle your mattress and other junk, they need a strong infrastructure and a few resources that smaller operations lack.

So how can you tell if a junk removal company is going to really recycle or donate your old mattress instead of dumping it in a landfill?

A good indication that a junk removal company does, in fact, recycle the stuff they haul away is the cost of pick up. If a junk remover is honestly recycling or donating your mattress, the pickup will cost less.

When a junk removal company doesn’t have to pay a ton of disposal fees and overhead to throw your junk in a landfill, they are able to undercut other haulers’ prices and charge their customers less.

Most junk removal companies that use environmentally sound disposal methods do business in similar ways. Items are broken down and scrap that is still in usable condition is removed and salvaged.

Usable items are donated to regional, national, and international charities while the reclaimed scrap material is sent to different recycling centers. This saves you and the junk hauler money while keeping millions of tons of junk out of already crowded landfills.

As a result, one could argue that these green junk removal companies help reduce pollution by stopping harmful materials from poisoning the environment.

One of the best things about junk removal is those haulers that recycle the junk they pick up. When you use a junk removal company that recycles, you’re helping to conserve natural resources, save energy, and clean up the environment.

Will My Mattress Really Be Recycled if LoadUp Takes It?

A lot of people ask us if we really recycle and donate the junk we pick up. The answer is yes. . . and no.

LoadUp is not a recycling facility or a nonprofit organization. So, we don’t recycle the mattresses and other junk we pick up ourselves.

Because LoadUp is a network of independently contracted Loaders that spans across the United States, it would be pretty hard for us to recycle everything ourselves.

Instead, the Loaders take every junk item they possibly can directly to charities and recycling centers to donate them and have them properly recycled by the established recycling facility.

That way, you can rest easy knowing that your junk isn’t going to have a negative impact on the environment. Plus, this means that LoadUp is able to price their junk removal services 20-30% cheaper than what most other junk removal companies would charge.

LoadUp actually even charges less than most of the other junk removal companies that recycle what they pick up because we base our prices on item count rather than volume.

Another reason we are able to charge less is because we are not a junk removal franchise like “those other guys,” which reduces our overhead costs and allows us to pass the savings on to you.

While there are some mattresses and other junk items we pick up that just can’t be recycled or donated due to regulations and other outside factors, we do everything we possibly can to make sure your old junk doesn’t end up in a landfill.

At LoadUp, we believe in green living, and we are happy to help you make a positive impact on the environment while reclaiming your space.

If you’d like to know more about our team and how LoadUp’s removal and disposal services can help you live a junk-free life, give us a call or chat with us through our website today!