I guess I'm lucky enough to live in a county/state where the little dropoff dumps will take anything (except antifreeze, and they take that occasionally). Tires, mattresses, appliances, they take it all. Tires and appliances have their own containers. Mattresses go in the bulk container. If the bulk container is full, they will tell you to "bring it back tomorrow" no matter what it is. I pass one on the way to work and live 3 miles from another one, so no big deal.
Except used burn barrels. Those have to go to the main landfill. I was told it was a fire safety thing and they had to destroy them with bulldozers to ensure no spark remains.
I almost got a free queen mattress a couple of months ago. A new one was sitting on the side of the interstate. Unfortunately the plastic had torn and it was raining. Darn right I stop and check out stuff like that.