Check your town's bulk rules first
Mercer County doesn't pick up mattresses itself. Your town or its trash hauler does, and the day, the item limit and the wrapping rule change at every town line. Tap a town for its full rules and a link to the official source, and check the current schedule before you set anything out.
Here's how the towns we cover handle it:
- Hamilton takes up to 3 bulk items on the second regular trash day of the week, and they count toward that day's bag and container limit. Mattresses and box springs must be wrapped in plastic. The service is for the occasional large item, not contractor work or home, garage and basement cleanouts. Questions go to HamStat at 609-586-0311.
- Lawrence collects bulk on the last Friday of each month: up to three bulky items, each no more than 50 lb, set next to the blue cart, not in it. Plastic has to cover the entire mattress or box spring, and anything that doesn't fit the truck's hopper is left behind. Metal items are picked up by appointment at 609-587-1894.
- Princeton collects bulk on Wednesdays, by reservation only. Book online by 11:59 p.m. the Sunday before. The limit is 2 items a week, each under 50 lb, and a mattress or box spring must be wrapped in plastic or it won't be collected. Nothing goes out before your assigned date, and flood-damaged items aren't taken.
- West Windsor has Waste Management take 1 to 2 bulk items on your regular garbage day, with no call needed. Every mattress must be completely wrapped in plastic, and anything larger than a twin must be folded in half and tied. Box springs can go out as they are. At move-out, Waste Management only takes small amounts. Public Works: 609-799-8370.
- Robbinsville takes mattresses and box springs with household trash, up to two items a week. Each one must be wrapped in plastic strong enough not to tear, covering every exposed area, or sealed in a mattress bag. Public Works: 609-259-0422.
- East Windsor collects bulk, mattresses included, for Garbage District homes only. Twin Rivers and other private communities are left out. Pickup is one Wednesday a month by area (area 1 on the first Wednesday through area 4 on the fourth), and the township's Street Index tells you your area. Set items out no earlier than 9 p.m. the night before and by 7 a.m., in no more than two piles, each no larger than 6 ft by 4 ft. Contractor waste isn't taken. Public Works: 609-443-4000 ext. 415.
- Ewing collects trash on Wednesday township-wide, and up to 3 bulk items can go out with it. Ewing's pages don't mention mattresses, so ask the hauler, IWS (1-866-342-5497), or Public Works (609-882-3382) before you set one out.
- Hightstown collects bulk, furniture included, on the last Friday of each month by appointment only. Every item needs its own paid Waste Disposal Sticker, bought by the Wednesday before. Metal beds and the metal part of a sleep sofa go with metal collection on the first Wednesday of the month, also by appointment. The borough's page doesn't name mattresses, so ask when you call for the appointment at 609-490-5115.
- Trenton picks up bulk furniture and household appliances by appointment, up to 5 furniture items per appointment. Its pages don't mention mattresses, so ask when you call Solid Waste at 609-989-3175, Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Wrap it, fold it if asked, and set it out on time
Plastic wrapping is the rule that gets a mattress left at the curb. Hamilton, Lawrence, Princeton, West Windsor and Robbinsville all require it, and Princeton says outright that an unwrapped mattress won't be collected. Lawrence wants the entire mattress or box spring covered, and Robbinsville wants plastic strong enough not to tear. In West Windsor, box springs are the exception and go out as they are, but a mattress larger than a twin has to be folded in half and tied. East Windsor, Ewing and Hightstown don't publish a wrapping rule, so ask when you call.
Mattress disposal bags are sold at home improvement stores. Slide the bag over the whole mattress, tape it shut, and bag the box spring separately unless your town says otherwise. Then keep both dry until pickup. A wet mattress gets much heavier.
Weight matters too. Lawrence and Princeton cap each bulk item at 50 lb, and a queen or king can be heavier than that. If yours is a big one, call Public Works before you put it out.
Timing is the last catch. Princeton allows nothing out before your assigned date, and East Windsor allows nothing before 9 p.m. the night before. If you're on the wrong side of the date, keep the mattress inside, covered and dry. Our missed bulk pickup guide covers what to do if the truck passes you by.
Is there a county dump for mattresses?
Not for residents. The Mercer County Improvement Authority (MCIA) oversees the disposal of the county's solid waste, but its transfer station on Dover and Stokes Avenue in Ewing (entrance on North Olden Avenue) is set up for haulers. Haulers need an MCIA account, an NJDEP card and a Waste Origin form for every load, the waste must come from Mercer County, and cash isn't accepted at tipping. None of the MCIA's pages mention mattresses or a bulk drop-off for residents.
Ewing residents have one more option:
- Ewing residents can bring bulk waste to the township drop-off at 136 Scotch Road with a paid bulk waste pass bought online, which covers 10 pickup-truck loads a year. Bring photo ID. Contractors and vehicles with commercial plates aren't allowed. It's open Wednesday and Saturday, 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Its accepted list names furniture and large household waste but not mattresses, so check first. It closed for the winter last year (November 22, 2025 to March 28, 2026), and this winter's dates aren't posted yet, so check before going in November.
No mattress recycling through the MCIA
The MCIA's pages list no mattress recycling program or resident mattress drop-off, so a Mercer mattress goes out through your town's bulk pickup or a hauler. If one is still good, line up whoever wants it before pickup day; our Monmouth County mattress guide explains the state bedding law that makes charities and resale shops cautious, and the statewide recycling bill that isn't law yet.
When it's easier to have us haul it
In Lawrence and Princeton a bulk item can weigh no more than 50 lb, and a queen or king mattress can weigh more than that. If your town's bulk day is weeks away, the mattress is over a weight limit, you can't get it down the stairs, or the whole bedroom set is going, text photos to (855) 655-7552 for one upfront price.
Dominic and his crew carry it out from any room and any floor, take the bed frame apart themselves, and haul the mattress, box spring, frame, headboard and anything else that's leaving, then sweep up. No wrapping or folding needed, and if there's a bed bug problem, tell us when you ask for a price. Loads go to a licensed facility under our NJDEP A-901 license, and a metal bed frame is recycled as scrap when possible. Jobs have a $250 minimum, the price we quote is the price you pay, and same-day and next-day openings are often available.
See mattress removal and furniture removal for how it works, the Mercer County page for the towns we cover, and what junk removal can't take for the short list we leave behind. Over the line? See our Burlington, Middlesex and Monmouth mattress guides.
