Mattress disposal in Brighton: what it costs and why the tip turns you away

The new mattress is arriving on Thursday. The old one is leaning against the hallway wall, and it has been there since the weekend because nobody can agree how it is getting down the stairs, let alone where it is going after that. That is how most mattress jobs start. There are five realistic ways to get rid of a mattress in Brighton and Hove, and each one has a catch that is easy to miss until you are standing at the tip gate or waiting for a collection that is still three weeks away. This guide goes through all five using the council's own published rules, so you can pick the right one before you lift anything.

Five ways to get rid of a mattress in Brighton and Hove

Your options are the retailer delivering your new mattress, the council bulky waste collection, the tip, a charity or resale, and a licensed man and van. Which one works depends mostly on the mattress's condition, where it is sitting and how soon it has to go.

If you are buying a new mattress, start with the retailer: it is the one route where the old mattress leaves the same way the new one arrives, and nobody has to carry anything twice. The National Bed Federation's mattress disposal site suggests checking that the retailer actually recycles what it collects. If you are not buying new, or the delivery date has already passed, the other four routes are below.

What the council charges, and the bed base catch

Brighton & Hove City Council charges £25 to collect one item, £45 for two and £120 for six. A bed base and its mattress are listed as separate items, so a whole single or double bed costs £45, not £25.

The council's bulky waste page lists single mattresses, double mattresses (including king size) and bed bases as separate chargeable items. That catches people out: they book "a bed", and the crew arrives expecting one item and finds two. The council says it can refuse anything that is not as described on the call, so describe the mattress and the base separately when you book.

How to book, and how long it takes

Call 01273 292 929, Monday to Friday between 9:30am and 1:30pm, with your address, a description of each item and a debit card. In September 2026 the council says high demand means it is booking slots three to four weeks ahead. If the new mattress is arriving before then, the old one has to live somewhere in the meantime.

Where it has to be on the day

The crew collects from your driveway, your front or back garden, or just inside the front door if you have no outside space. It does not come upstairs. The council is also clear that you must never leave an item on the road or pavement, even when a collection is booked, because that is fly-tipping and can bring a £400 fine. A mattress left out overnight in Brighton rain is also a mattress that is now twice as heavy. Our comparison of council bulky waste and a man and van covers the rest of the council service in detail.

Before

After

Why the tip turns you away

Brighton and Hove's two household waste recycling sites take mattresses free from city residents, but they turn away people without the right ID, and vehicles such as Luton vans, box vans, tippers and signwritten business vans.

Most people who get turned away at the tip with a mattress have not done anything wrong. They have just missed one of the council's access rules. Check these before you set off:

1. In a car: a photo driving licence showing your Brighton & Hove address, plus matching proof of residence dated within the last three months, such as a council tax bill, bank statement or utility bill.
2. In a van: two forms of ID, such as a driving licence and a recent council tax or utility bill, plus proof of residence. A hired van also needs the rental agreement.
3. Vehicles that are refused: anything 3,500kg gross weight or over, Luton vans and box bodies, flatbeds, tippers and dropsides, and any commercial vehicle with business signage.
4. Trailers: only at the Hove site, and only up to 1.2 metres long.
5. Timing: the council may close the gates up to 45 minutes before the published closing time to clear the queue already on site.

The ID rules also mean the city's sites are for Brighton and Hove residents. If you live in Peacehaven, Lewes or Shoreham, you need your own council's tip, with its own rules.

Where the two sites are

The Hove site is on Modbury Way, off Old Shoreham Road, BN3 7AE. It is open 8am to 4:30pm on weekdays, 8:30am to 1:30pm on Saturdays and 10:30am to 1:30pm on Sundays, and closed on bank holidays. The Brighton site is off Wilson Avenue in Whitehawk, BN2 5PA, open 8am to 4:30pm on weekdays and 9am to 5pm at weekends and on bank holidays. Check the council's site page on the day, as hours can change.

The fitting-it-in-the-car problem

Even with the right paperwork, a double mattress does not go in a hatchback, and folding a sprung mattress in half is harder than it looks. Most people who try the tip end up borrowing or hiring a van, which brings the van rules above into play, and still means carrying it down the stairs themselves first.

Can you donate or recycle an old mattress?

Only a clean, unstained mattress with its fire safety label still attached can go to a charity. At Brighton and Hove's tips, the council says mattresses cannot be recycled and go in the landfill bin.

Fire safety rules mean charity furniture shops cannot resell upholstered items without a permanent fire label. The British Heart Foundation's list of items it cannot accept includes upholstered items without fire safety labels, and a mattress with stains, rips or a missing label is very unlikely to be accepted anywhere. If yours genuinely is in good condition, our guide to getting rid of old furniture in Brighton and Hove covers selling and donating, which are worth trying first.

What happens to mattresses nationally

Mattresses are hard to recycle because they are layers of springs, foam and fabric that have to be pulled apart. The picture is improving: the National Bed Federation's end-of-life report found that 56% of UK mattresses were sent for recycling in 2023, up from an estimated 25% in 2021, though the share of material actually recovered was 33%. Locally, the council's recycling A to Z is plain about its own sites: mattresses cannot be recycled there. If recycling matters to you, ask whoever collects your mattress where it goes, and expect a straight answer.

Beware the cheap "we'll take it away" offer

If you hand a mattress to someone who is not a registered waste carrier and it is fly-tipped, you can be fined for breaching your household duty of care. Councils can issue a fixed penalty of £150 to £600.

Mattresses are among the things most often dumped in alleys and on verges, and the social media offer to "take it for a tenner" is usually how they get there. The National Bed Federation's disposal site warns about exactly this: people in white vans offering a free or bargain collection who then fly-tip what they take. The government's duty of care guidance says councils can fine the householder, not just the dumper, with a default penalty of £200.

The thirty-second check

Ask for the collector's waste carrier registration number and look it up on the Environment Agency public register. Keep the message or receipt with their business details. Right Turn Removals is registered under licence CBDU621046, and our guide to checking a collector is legal walks through the register step by step.

When a man and van makes more sense

A licensed man and van is usually the simplest route when the mattress is upstairs, when it has to go before the new one arrives, or when the bed base, frame and other items are going too.

Brighton is full of flats above shops and converted terraces with narrow, turning staircases. A double mattress round a stairwell bend is a two-person job, and a king size divan base can be worse. With a man and van collection the lifting is included: the mattress is collected from the room it is in, the base and frame go in the same load, and so does anything else that has been waiting for a van.

How the price is worked out

Rather than a price per item, a rubbish collection is priced on how much van space the load takes and how much effort it is to get it there: which floor it is on, how tight the stairs are, and whether there is parking near the door. A single mattress from a ground-floor flat is a very different job from a whole bed down four flights. Send a photo, your postcode and the floor, and you get a clear price before anything is moved. Our guide to what drives the cost of a clearance explains each factor.

If it is more than one bed

Clearing a spare room, a student let or a parent's house usually means several beds at once, plus everything around them. At that point it is worth pricing the job as a house clearance rather than item by item. And if you are clearing ahead of a move, our Brighton and Hove moving checklist suggests sorting the clearance before you book the removal.