BANGOR DAILY NEWS • May 11, 2023
The transfer station in this western Maine charges $20 to dispose of a mattress and box spring, a fee that does not cover the added cost of having it trucked away, dismantled, recycled or burned. Some towns charge $50 or more to dispose of a bed set, driven by rising gas, labor and transportation costs. Those hikes are reverberating across recycling programs statewide, many of which have seen participation rates drop in recent years. “People have been dumping things in the woods forever, and it’s not going to ever stop,” Forrest Kollander, foreman of the Bridgton transfer station, said.