How do you get rid of an old couch or mattress in San Diego?
Not through your trash service yet: the City's planned bulky item pickup is paused. Mattresses and box springs go free to the collection site at the Miramar Landfill entrance on weekdays. Dumping on the curb can cost up to $1,000.
- Bulky pickup
- Paused
- Mattresses
- Free drop-off
- Limit
- 10 per trip
- Dumping fine
- $100–$1,000
City deferred it in 2026
Miramar Landfill entrance, weekdays
Mattresses or box springs
City administrative citation
The short version
- Bulky item pickup was planned as part of the City's new trash fee, but the City paused it "until further notice" after cutting the fee in June 2026.
- The City's mattress collection site outside the Miramar Landfill entrance takes up to 10 mattresses or box springs per trip for free, Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Wet, soiled, badly damaged or bedbug-infested mattresses aren't accepted.
- Illegal dumping draws administrative citations of $100 to $1,000; report it through the Get It Done app.
- Furniture in good shape can go to donation centers; everything else can be self-hauled to the landfill.
Plenty of San Diegans assumed the new trash fee came with bulky item pickup. It was supposed to. In June 2026 the City Council cut the fee as part of a settlement, and to cover the gap the City paused both bulky item pickup and weekly recycling collection. So for now, getting rid of a couch is on you.
Your options
| Item | Where it goes | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Mattress or box spring | City mattress collection site, Miramar Landfill entrance (Mon–Fri, 7–4) | Free, up to 10 per trip |
| Couch, chairs, tables in good shape | Donation centers or resale apps | Free |
| Broken furniture | Self-haul to the Miramar Landfill | Landfill fees apply |
| Anything on the curb or in an alley | Nowhere: it's illegal dumping | $100–$1,000 citation |
SOURCES
Everything above traces back to one of these. Follow them — if one has changed and we haven't, that's our mistake, not yours.
- PrimarySolid waste fee updates
City of San Diego · Checked October 6, 2026
Bulky item pickup paused
City of San Diego · June 8, 2026
Fee cut and deferred services
City of San Diego · July 18, 2024
Mattress site hours, limits, results
City of San Diego · March 29, 2018
$100–$1,000 citations