The same mattress is legal in one state and banned in the other
We run containers on both sides of the state line, so this comes up constantly. A mattress from a Massachusetts town is banned from disposal and has to be diverted. The same mattress from a New Hampshire town is not covered by any state ban. Textiles, wood, gypsum wallboard, concrete and recyclable containers split the same way — and running the other direction, New Hampshire bans lithium-ion batteries and Massachusetts does not.
Where the two lists diverge.
Both columns are taken from the state agencies. Verified September 2026.
| Material | Massachusetts | New Hampshire |
|---|---|---|
| Mattresses | Banned from disposal | No state ban |
| Textiles | Banned from disposal | No state ban |
| Wood | Banned from disposal | No state ban |
| Clean gypsum wallboard | Banned from disposal | No state ban |
| Asphalt, brick, concrete | Banned from disposal | No state ban |
| Recyclable containers and paper | Banned from disposal | No state ban |
| Leaf and yard waste | Banned | Banned |
| Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries | No state ban | Banned since July 1, 2025 |
| Mercury-added products | Not on the MassDEP ban list | Banned |
| TVs and monitors | Banned (cathode ray tubes) | Banned (electronics) |
Massachusetts
MassDEP · 310 CMR 19.017 · G.L. c. 21H
Banned from disposal, or from transfer for disposal:
- • Glass, metal and plastic containers
- • Paper, including cardboard
- • Leaf and yard waste
- • Lead-acid batteries
- • Mattresses
- • Textiles
- • Whole tires
- • White goods (large appliances)
- • Cathode ray tubes (TVs and computer monitors)
- • Asphalt pavement, brick, concrete and metal
- • Wood
- • Clean gypsum wallboard
- • Commercial organic material
Mattresses and textiles were added effective November 1, 2022.
The commercial organic material threshold was lowered to more than one-half ton per week, down from one ton, since October 2014.
Enforcement targets haulers and facilities rather than residents. Facilities must file a Waste Ban Compliance Plan, must issue a failed-load notification to the hauler and the generator, and may charge a handling fee to remove and recycle banned material. MassDEP conducts unannounced inspections.
New Hampshire
NHDES · RSA 149-M · Env-Sw 100-2000
Banned from landfills and incinerators:
- • Electronics — TVs, monitors, computers, laptops, tablets, cell phones, printers, copiers, media players
- • Mercury-added products
- • Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (effective July 1, 2025)
- • Wet-cell batteries
- • Yard waste — leaves, grass clippings, garden debris, branches
New Hampshire's Solid Waste Management Act does not make recycling mandatory.
Effective January 1, 2026, New Hampshire applies a $3.50 per ton surcharge on solid waste delivered to its active landfills or waste-to-energy facility.
Both lists were verified against the agency pages in September 2026. Regulations change; the two links above are authoritative and this page is not. If you are planning around a specific material, check the source or ask us.
What this changes about your load
Practically: the separated items differ by state, not the service. A container in a Massachusetts town has more material that has to come out of the general load before disposal — mattresses, textiles, wood, wallboard, masonry — and that separation is the hauler's obligation under the ban.
Several of those items carry a handling fee. The current schedule lives on the pricing page rather than here, so there is one place to keep it accurate. What we will and will not take either side of the line is on items we take.
If you are choosing a container size, weight matters more than volume on banned masonry — see dumpster rental. If you would rather the crew sorted and carried it, junk removal handles the separation as part of the job.
Common questions
Does the Massachusetts waste ban apply to me as a homeowner?
Enforcement targets haulers and disposal facilities rather than residents. Facilities must file a Waste Ban Compliance Plan, must issue a failed-load notification to both the hauler and the generator when banned material turns up, and may charge a handling fee to remove and recycle it. MassDEP conducts unannounced inspections. In practice that means the material still has to be separated — it is just that the enforcement lands on us, not on you.
Can I put a mattress in a dumpster in New Hampshire but not Massachusetts?
New Hampshire has no state disposal ban covering mattresses; Massachusetts does, effective November 1, 2022, when mattresses and textiles were added to the MassDEP list. That difference is a matter of state law, not of how we handle the load. Tell us what is going in and we will tell you what applies.
What did Massachusetts add most recently?
Mattresses and textiles, effective November 1, 2022. Separately, the threshold for commercial organic material was lowered to more than one-half ton per week, down from one ton, which took effect in October 2014.
Is recycling mandatory in New Hampshire?
New Hampshire's Solid Waste Management Act does not make recycling mandatory. The state bans specific materials from landfills and incinerators, but there is no general recycling requirement of the kind Massachusetts' disposal bans create in practice.
Is there a new New Hampshire disposal cost?
Effective January 1, 2026, New Hampshire applies a $3.50 per ton surcharge on solid waste delivered to its active landfills or its waste-to-energy facility.
Which items carry a handling fee on a Drop N' Go job?
Several banned and special-handling items do, and the current schedule is published on our pricing page rather than here so there is one place to keep it accurate.
Tell us what's going in.
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