Free
Large Item Pick-Up year-round, requested through 311 or the ABQ311 app
24 hours
minimum notice before your regular trash day
4
tires per request; TVs, toilets, and water heaters are on the accepted list too
Every route for a mattress in Albuquerque, checked in October 2026 against the city’s current rules and the drop-off sites named. The full Albuquerque guide covers every other item.
Here is how each route works in Albuquerque, starting with the city program and ending with paid pickup.
Albuquerque free Large Item Pick-Up: mattresses
FreeMattresses are named on Albuquerque's Large Item list, no bagging rule. Request through 311.
Who qualifies: Residential Solid Waste Management customers (homes with city carts). Apartment complexes use commercial service.
How to schedule: Request it online (cabq.gov/311), in the ABQ311 app, or by calling 311 at least 24 hours before your regular trash day. The pickup happens on your next normal collection day, free, year-round, with no published limit on how often.
Limits: No more than a standard pickup-truck load per request. Up to 4 tires per request.
Set-out: At the curb on your regular trash day, 5 feet from carts, mailboxes, hydrants, parked cars, low trees, and utility poles. Appliances must be empty; refrigerator and freezer doors taped shut. Contaminated items are refused.
Donation pickup in Albuquerque (usable mattresses)
FreeAlbuquerque’s donation programs accept items in good usable condition: clean upholstered furniture without significant tears or stains, working appliances less than 10 years old, mattresses in good condition (subject to program-specific rules), kitchenware, lamps, and most household goods.
Items typically not accepted: damaged or stained furniture, mattresses with bedbug history or significant wear, appliances that don’t work, particle-board furniture in poor condition, cribs (federal safety regulations have changed), and exercise equipment that requires reassembly. Always call before scheduling if you’re unsure, pickups that find unacceptable items will leave them behind.
Freemoval (free pickups through partner organizations)
FreeFreemoval funds free junk removal and cleanouts for households referred by trusted partner organizations, such as nonprofits, housing programs, and senior services. Families don’t apply directly. A partner submits the request and vouches for the need.
Status in Albuquerque: Not yet available. Freemoval currently serves metro Atlanta and plans to expand nationwide.
How it works where it operates: One free pickup per household, covering mattresses, furniture, appliances, and bulk household items within standard LoadUp marketplace service. Funded by LoadUp customer round-ups and direct contributions, spent at standard LoadUp rates.
If you run a nonprofit or housing program in Albuquerque: you can start the conversation now through the For partners page.
Albuquerque runs one of the most generous bulk pickup systems of any major U.S. city: free Large Item Pick-Up year-round, throughout the year, with just 24-hour advance notice via 311. No annual cap, no scheduled cycle, no fees for residential customers. The other unusual rule is NO glass in the blue recycling cart, glass goes to one of 11 yellow drop-off bins located across the city. Trash collection is delayed only on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day; all other federal holidays are normal. Three Convenience Centers offer flat-fee drop-off ($5.25 per load) for residents who prefer drop-off. This page walks through every legitimate option in order from free to paid.
The Albuquerque rule for mattresses: Mattresses are named on Albuquerque's Large Item list, no bagging rule. Request through 311.
Program basics: No more than a standard pickup-truck load per request. Up to 4 tires per request. At the curb on your regular trash day, 5 feet from carts, mailboxes, hydrants, parked cars, low trees, and utility poles. Appliances must be empty; refrigerator and freezer doors taped shut. Contaminated items are refused.
What the city will not take: Household hazardous waste (city HHW Collection Center), contractor construction debris, and anything contaminated. Albuquerque's list is unusually broad: TVs, tires, toilets, and water heaters are all on it.
How we checked this. The rules on this page were verified in October 2026 against: City of Albuquerque Solid Waste: Large Item Pick-Up, City of Albuquerque: Request a Large Item Pickup (311). Programs change; confirm fees and limits before you go.
Why mattresses are different from ordinary bulk. Mattresses contain springs, foam, fabric, and wood, all recyclable individually but bonded together in a way that makes them hard to process. They’re also a notorious vector for bedbugs, which has led several cities to require plastic-wrapping before curbside pickup (NYC and Cleveland have explicit rules).
Three mistakes that get mattresses left at the curb:
When free options don’t fit your timeline or volume:
LoadUp paid mattress pickup
$80+For households who need same-day or in-home pickup, exceed the standard load size in a single 311 request, have items the city won’t take, live in apartment buildings without included service, or want full-service hauling, LoadUp offers professional removal in Albuquerque with upfront pricing. Independent loaders in the marketplace handle pickup, loading, and licensed disposal.
What’s included: Loading, hauling, and licensed disposal of your mattress. No prep needed beyond pointing out what goes.
Pricing: Starts around $80 for a single item; full-truck pickups range from $300 to $600 depending on volume.
If you can pay for a pickup, your booking helps fund free pickups for someone else. Every paid LoadUp customer can opt in to round up at checkout, and 100% of round-ups go directly to Freemoval’s subsidized jobs.
Book mattress pickup in Albuquerque with LoadUp → Round-up option appears at checkout. Optional, opt-in only.
Rules change at city limits. If you are outside Albuquerque proper, start with the guide for your own city:
Related guides: the complete Albuquerque junk removal guide (every item type, city services, hazardous waste, and how to report dumping) and the national mattress disposal guide with rules for all 117 cities we cover.
Other free removal guides for Albuquerque: couch, refrigerator, washer and dryer, furniture, tv and electronics, dresser, bed frame and box spring, dishwasher.
Does Albuquerque pick up mattresses for free?
Yes, free, by 311 request. No bag required.
Where can I donate a mattress in Albuquerque?
Albuquerque’s donation programs accept items in good usable condition: clean upholstered furniture without significant tears or stains, working appliances less than 10 years old, mattresses in good condition (subject to program-specific rules), kitchenware, lamps, and most household goods.
How much does paid mattress removal cost in Albuquerque?
Through the LoadUp marketplace, a single mattress pickup in Albuquerque starts around $80 to $100 with upfront pricing, and full-truck loads run $300 to $600 depending on volume. For households who need same-day or in-home pickup, exceed the standard load size in a single 311 request, have items the city won’t take, live in apartment buildings without included service, or want full-service hauling, LoadUp offers professional removal in Albuquerque with upfront pricing. Independent loaders in the marketplace handle pickup, loading, and licensed disposal.
Can I just put a mattress in my regular trash?
No. Mattresses are too big for residential trash bins and are explicitly banned from regular trash collection in most U.S. cities. Connecticut, Rhode Island, California, and Oregon ban mattresses from landfills entirely under state law. Use one of the free or paid options above instead.
How much do paid mattress pickups cost?
Single mattress pickups typically range $80 to $200 depending on the service and your city. National services (LoadUp, 1-800-Got-Junk, College Hunks) cluster in the $80 to $130 range for one mattress. Local independent haulers can be cheaper ($50 to $100). Booking 2 mattresses together is often only marginally more expensive than booking 1, ask about bundled pricing.
What about box springs, are they treated the same?
Yes, box springs follow the same rules as mattresses in nearly every city, same pickup eligibility, same disposal channels, same bedbug-wrap requirements. State recycling programs (CT, RI, CA, OR) accept both. Most retailers haul both away together with new mattress delivery. King and queen splits typically count as 2 separate items, while single-piece box springs count as 1.
My mattress has bedbugs, what should I do?
Plastic-wrap the mattress fully before moving it (heavy-duty mattress disposal bags are sold at hardware stores for $5 to $15). Many cities require plastic-wrapping for ANY mattress disposal to prevent spreading bedbugs to other households along the route. Donation programs CANNOT accept mattresses with bedbug history. Use city bulk pickup (with proper plastic-wrapping) or paid hauler. Tell the hauler in advance, some services charge extra or refuse, while others handle bedbug mattresses routinely.
Is this Albuquerque page maintained?
Yes. Freemoval maintains this page as a public resource alongside the full Albuquerque guide. We update it when programs change rules, fees, or contact methods. Last updated October 2026. If you find outdated information, let us know.
