Can I Take a Mattress to the Tip in Huddersfield?
Yes, and free at the tip. The council collection is the expensive route here: Kirklees charges £31.80 for a mattress, the same as a sofa and nearly three times an ordinary bulky item at £11.66. Kirklees Passport holders get 50% off. Mattresses cannot go in a skip and will not fit a wheelie bin. Kruze collects them from the room they are in, across Huddersfield and West Yorkshire, from £45, under Waste Carrier Licence CBDU597687. Call or WhatsApp 07436 120271.
Why Kirklees prices a mattress like a sofa
Kirklees puts a mattress in the same price band as a three seat sofa. Understanding why it does that, and why the two are not actually in the same legal category, is worth about £20 to you.
A mattress will not fit a wheelie bin, is prohibited in skips, and charities will only take it with its fire safety label intact. In Kirklees the gap between the free route and the paid one is wider than anywhere else in our area, so it is worth knowing which you are choosing.
What Kirklees Council allows at the tip
Kirklees confirms three things about a mattress on its own A to Z entry. It goes in no bin, grey, green or brown. It can be donated to a charity, but only if the fire safety label is still attached. And it can be taken to a household waste recycling centre, free.
The reason the tip route matters so much in Huddersfield is what the alternative costs.
Source: Kirklees Council on mattresses.
What a Kirklees Council collection costs
Kirklees is the only council in our area that prices mattresses in their own band. A mattress is £31.80, the same as a sofa, a settee, a recliner or an armchair. An ordinary bulky item like a table or a carpet is £11.66. So a mattress costs nearly three times a standard item, and the maximum is six per order.
Two discounts exist and are easy to miss. Kirklees Passport holders get 50% off, which takes a mattress to £15.90. Households on assisted bin collections get two free collections per financial year, and one large bulky item such as a mattress counts as one of them. If either applies to you, use it before you pay anyone, us included.
Source: Kirklees Council bulky waste collections.
Your mattress is not POPs, but your sofa is
Kirklees collects upholstered seating on a different day from everything else, because sofas and armchairs are POPs waste and have to be kept separate. Mattresses are priced in the same band as sofas, which makes people assume they are in the same legal category. They are not. Government guidance is explicit that mattresses and beds are not domestic seating and are not covered by the POPs rules. So if you book a sofa and a mattress together, expect the price to look alike and the collection days not to.
The trade waste line
Household waste recycling centres are for household waste from residents. If you are a landlord clearing a void, an agent clearing between tenancies, or a business getting rid of beds from a let, that is trade waste and the household route is closed to you. Turning up with it can mean a refusal at the gate at best and enforcement at worst.
That is not us talking you out of the tip. It is the line the councils draw, and it is the single most common reason a Huddersfield mattress job ends up with us.
The worked comparison
A double mattress and a divan base, in Huddersfield.
| Route | Cost | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Kirklees Council tip | Free | Fit it in a car, drive it, lift it into the skip yourself |
| Kirklees Council collection | £31.80 for the mattress plus £11.66 for the base, so £43.46 | Get it outside before the crew arrives, wait for the date |
| Kruze | £105 for the pair | Nothing. We come to the room it is in |
Kirklees comes closer to private pricing than any other council here, and for two items it is still cheaper. What it does not include is the stairs. £43.46 buys a collection from outside your door with everything already there. Halve it with a Passport and it is cheaper still.
What it costs with Kruze
Mattress prices are fixed and itemised, so you know before we set off.
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Single mattress | £45 |
| Double mattress | £60 |
| King size mattress | £70 |
| Divan base | £45 |
The price includes the labour and the disposal. There is no call out charge and nothing is added afterwards. We are a licensed waste carrier, registration CBDU597687, and every job produces a waste transfer note, which is what covers your duty of care under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
What we do that the council route does not: we carry it out. Council crews collect from outside your property, so a mattress on the first floor is your problem until it reaches the kerb. Ours is a two person lift from the room it is in, stairs included.
Why mattresses are priced separately from ordinary rubbish
Two reasons, and neither of them is POPs.
They are refused by skips. A mattress will not compact. The springs hold their shape and the foam springs back, so it takes up the same space at the tip that it did in your bedroom. That is why every skip hire company in the country prohibits them and why they are charged per item rather than by weight.
They are not upholstered seating. Sofas, armchairs and upholstered dining chairs are POPs waste and must go to an authorised facility. Government guidance is explicit that mattresses, curtains, blinds and beds are not domestic seating and are not covered by that guidance. Anyone telling you your mattress costs more because of POPs has it wrong.
Frequently asked questions
Is a mattress POPs waste?
No. Government guidance is explicit that mattresses, curtains, blinds and beds are not domestic seating and are not covered by the POPs rules. Only upholstered seating is. Kirklees prices mattresses in the same band as sofas, which causes the confusion, but the two are handled differently in law.
How do I get the Kirklees Passport discount?
You need your Kirklees Passport number when you book, and it takes 50% off the bulky collection charge. A £31.80 mattress becomes £15.90. Nobody applies it for you.
Do I have to book to take a mattress to a Kirklees tip?
No. Kirklees requires booking for plasterboard, which counts against a twelve visit annual allowance. A mattress is an ordinary drop off.
Can I put a mattress in a skip?
No. Skips prohibit mattresses because the springs will not compact and the foam springs back. We collect them as a two person lift instead.
Book a mattress collection in Huddersfield
Send a photo on WhatsApp and you get a fixed price back, usually within minutes. Tell us which floor it is on, because that changes our job and it is the part the council route does not cover.
Call or WhatsApp 07436 120271.
Written by Sandeep KV, Founder of Kruze. Kruze is a licensed waste carrier based in Leeds, Waste Carrier Licence CBDU597687, serving Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Harrogate and Barnsley. Call or WhatsApp 07436 120271.
Mattress rules in the other areas we cover
Every council here takes a mattress at the tip for free. What they differ on is the price of collecting one from your door, and what happens to it afterwards.
More on tipping in Huddersfield
- Bulky waste collection in Huddersfield
- Van and trailer permits for the Huddersfield tip
- Plasterboard at the Huddersfield tip
- Asbestos at the Huddersfield tip
- Fridges and freezers at the Huddersfield tip
Clearing the building work rather than the bedroom? Soil and rubble at the Huddersfield tip has its own rules again.
The other thing that will not go in a bin or a skip: tyres at the Huddersfield tip.