America's Mattress Recycling Report Card: All 50 States Graded [2026]

• •Only 4 of 50 states have enacted Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws for mattresses: Connecticut (2013), California (2013), Rhode Island (2014), and Oregon (2023).

• •An estimated 15–20 million mattresses are discarded annually in the United States — roughly 50,000 per day.

• •In states with EPR programs, collection rates range from approximately 45% to 65% of discarded mattresses. In states without programs, the recycling rate is effectively zero.

• •The Mattress Recycling Council (MRC) has collected and processed materials from more than 10 million mattresses across its three active state programs since 2015.

• •Up to 80% of a mattress by weight is recoverable: steel, foam, fiber, and wood can all be recycled into new products.

• •A single mattress occupies roughly 40 cubic feet of landfill space and takes 80–120 years to decompose.

• •Cities like Los Angeles reported picking up more than 100,000 illegally dumped mattresses per year before the state's recycling program launched.

• •46 states currently have no mattress recycling infrastructure whatsoever.

We graded each state based on three criteria: (1) whether a mattress EPR law is enacted, (2) whether a funded collection and recycling program is operational, and (3) the program's collection rate and material recovery performance where data is available.

Only states with active, manufacturer-funded recycling programs earned passing grades. States with no legislation and no infrastructure received an F.

Connecticut was the first state in the country to implement a mattress recycling program, launching in May 2015 under Public Act 13-42. The law requires mattress manufacturers and importers to fund a statewide collection and recycling system through a per-unit fee charged at the point of sale.

The program is administered by the Mattress Recycling Council (MRC) under its consumer-facing brand, Bye Bye Mattress. Connecticut residents can drop off mattresses at designated collection sites at no additional charge. The network includes transfer stations, municipal facilities, and retailer take-back locations.

Connecticut's results have been the strongest of any state program. Despite being a small state (population ~3.6 million), it has achieved an estimated 55–65% collection rate of discarded mattresses — the highest in the nation. The program has collected hundreds of thousands of units cumulatively since 2015.

Rhode Island followed a similar model. With a population of just over 1 million, Rhode Island's program collects an estimated 50,000–70,000 mattresses annually. Its per-capita collection rate rivals Connecticut's, and the state's compact geography makes the logistics of collection relatively straightforward.

Both states demonstrate a critical finding: mattress recycling works when manufacturers are required to fund it. The infrastructure builds itself once the financing mechanism is in place.

California's mattress recycling program is by far the largest in the country. Since launching in January 2016 under SB 254, the state has collected and processed more than 10 million mattresses through the Bye Bye Mattress program — accounting for the vast majority of the MRC's national total.

In a typical year, California collects approximately 1.7–1.8 million mattresses. The state operates more than 250 collection sites, ranging from municipal drop-off centers to retailer take-back locations.

But California's grade is lower than Connecticut's for a reason. Despite massive volume, the state's collection rate as a percentage of discarded units is lower — approximately 45–50%. In a state of 39 million people spanning 163,696 square miles, reaching every consumer is a logistical challenge. Rural areas in particular have limited access to drop-off sites.

The program's impact on illegal dumping has been significant. The City of Los Angeles, which previously reported picking up more than 100,000 illegally dumped mattresses per year, has seen measurable reductions since the program launched. This cost savings alone — at an estimated $75–150 per illegally dumped mattress in cleanup costs — represents tens of millions in avoided municipal expenses.

California's program also files annual reports with CalRecycle, the state's recycling agency, providing some of the most detailed public data available on mattress recycling outcomes in the United States.

Oregon became the fourth state to enact a mattress EPR law when Governor Tina Kotek signed SB 1576 in July 2023. The law follows the model established by the three earlier states: manufacturers fund a statewide collection and recycling program through a per-unit fee.

The program, to be administered by the MRC under Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) oversight, was required to be operational by mid-2025. Oregon has a strong track record on environmental legislation — it was the first state to pass a bottle deposit law in 1971 — and mattress EPR fits within that tradition.

Oregon's passage leaves 46 states with no mattress recycling law. The next most likely candidates, based on legislative activity and environmental advocacy, include New York, Washington, and Massachusetts — but none had passed legislation as of early 2026.

In 46 states, there is no manufacturer-funded mattress recycling program. No EPR law. No statewide collection infrastructure. No recycling target.

In these states, a consumer who wants to dispose of a mattress has limited options:

• •Pay a hauler or junk removal service, typically $50–150 per mattress.

• •Schedule a municipal bulk pickup, if available — many cities limit pickups to a few times per year or charge per-item fees.

• •Take the mattress to a landfill or transfer station, where surcharges of $15–40 per mattress are common on top of standard tipping fees.

• •Donate — if the mattress is in excellent condition, which excludes most discards.

• •Dump it illegally — which is what happens at scale when legal options are too expensive or inconvenient.

The result is predictable: in non-EPR states, mattress recycling rates are estimated at less than 5%, and possibly close to zero. There is no infrastructure to recycle a mattress, no economic incentive for anyone to build that infrastructure, and no regulatory requirement for manufacturers to take responsibility for end-of-life disposal.

This is the same dynamic that existed in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and California before their EPR laws passed. The legislation created the market.

A mattress is not a single material. It is a composite of recyclable components that, when separated, have commodity value. The MRC reports that approximately 75–80% of a mattress by weight can be recovered for recycling.

The absence of mattress recycling in 46 states has quantifiable costs:

• •Landfill space: At roughly 40 cubic feet per mattress, 15–20 million discarded mattresses consume an estimated 600–800 million cubic feet of landfill space annually. Mattresses resist compaction — landfill operators report that mattress springs can damage compaction equipment and cause the mattresses to "bounce back" to near-original volume.

• •Tipping fees: Many landfills charge mattress-specific surcharges of $15–40 per unit on top of standard tipping fees, reflecting the difficulty of handling them. At average costs, disposing of 15 million mattresses at landfill costs upwards of $300 million annually.

• •Illegal dumping: Mattresses are consistently among the most illegally dumped items in American cities. Cleanup costs are estimated at $75–150 per mattress when collection, transportation, and disposal are included. Los Angeles alone spent tens of millions annually on illegal dumping cleanup before its EPR program launched.

• •Decomposition timeline: An 80–120 year decomposition period means mattresses discarded today will still be in landfills in the 22nd century. The polyurethane foam component may persist even longer, as it does not biodegrade meaningfully in landfill conditions.

• •Lost material value: The steel, foam, and fiber in discarded mattresses have commodity value. Recycling steel from mattresses avoids the energy cost of producing virgin steel — the American Iron and Steel Institute notes that recycling one ton of steel saves approximately 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal, and 120 pounds of limestone.

If mattress recycling demonstrably works in the four states that have tried it, why haven't the other 46 followed?

Several factors explain the inertia:

• •Industry opposition: Mattress manufacturers have historically lobbied against EPR mandates, arguing that per-unit recycling fees raise consumer prices. The International Sleep Products Association (ISPA) has taken a mixed position — supporting the MRC's work in states with existing laws while not actively pushing for expansion to new states.

• •Visibility gap: Unlike plastic pollution or food waste, mattress waste does not have a prominent advocacy movement. There is no equivalent of the bottle bill coalition or plastic bag ban campaign pushing for mattress recycling legislation.

• •Federal inaction: The EPA does not track mattresses as a distinct waste category, which makes it harder for advocates to cite specific federal data. Without EPA-level attention, mattress waste does not appear in national waste reduction strategies.

• •Cost perception: The $9–16 per-unit recycling fee charged at point of sale in EPR states is modest, but any price increase faces political resistance. Legislators in non-EPR states have been reluctant to impose what can be characterized as a "mattress tax."

• •Small constituency: Unlike plastic waste, which affects oceans and wildlife in visible ways, mattress waste is an out-of-sight problem. Once a mattress reaches a landfill, it disappears from public consciousness.

Extending mattress EPR to all 50 states would require either federal legislation or a state-by-state approach. Based on the proven model from the four existing programs, a national framework would likely include:

• •A visible per-unit recycling fee of $10–16, charged at the point of sale on every mattress and box spring sold in the United States.

• •Manufacturer-funded collection infrastructure — drop-off sites, retailer take-back requirements, and partnerships with municipal bulk pickup programs.

• •Material recovery targets ramping from 50% to 75%+ over a five-year implementation period.

• •Annual reporting requirements filed with state environmental agencies, modeled on CalRecycle's existing oversight of the California program.

At the current scale of 35–40 million mattresses and foundations sold annually in the U.S. (per ISPA shipment data), a $10 per-unit fee would generate $350–400 million annually for recycling infrastructure — sufficient to fund collection, processing, and material recovery nationwide.

The economic case is straightforward: the cost of recycling a mattress through an EPR program is comparable to or less than the combined costs of landfill disposal and illegal dumping cleanup that taxpayers currently bear.

The following table grades all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. States with operational EPR programs receive grades based on program performance. States with enacted but not-yet-operational programs receive an Incomplete. All other states receive an F.

This report card is based on publicly available data from the following sources:

• •U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Advancing Sustainable Materials Management: Facts and Figures" reports. The EPA includes mattresses within its durable goods category but does not publish mattress-specific waste generation or recycling data.

• •California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle), mattress stewardship program oversight and annual reports filed by the Mattress Recycling Council.

• •Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), mattress recycling program information.

• •Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM), mattress stewardship program data.

• •Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), SB 1576 implementation and mattress recycling program status.

• •Oregon State Legislature, SB 1576 (2023 Regular Session) — enacted July 2023.

• •Mattress Recycling Council (MRC) and Bye Bye Mattress program statistics.

• •International Sleep Products Association (ISPA), U.S. mattress shipment data.

• •Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF), landfill tipping fee data.

• •American Iron and Steel Institute, steel recycling energy savings data.

Collection rate estimates are based on the ratio of mattresses collected through EPR programs to estimated mattress discards, calculated from ISPA shipment data and average mattress lifespan assumptions. Grades are editorial assessments, not certified metrics.

Dropcurb is a curbside junk removal marketplace. This report was produced as a public resource using publicly available data.