City of Edinburgh Council has withdrawn the one, free special-uplift per household per year. Since April, this service has cost at least £19.99.
While understanding the budgetary pressures faced by CEC, Blandfield resident Mark Sheffield thinks the latest saving will prove 'counter-productive', and is writing to councillors to voice his objections.
'Yes, it's true that if you are a car-owner and can fit such items in your car, you can transport them yourself to the Seafield recycling centre and dispose of them at no charge,' he says. 'But how does this encouragement of unnecessary car journeys tally with CEC's Sustainable Transport Plan?'
Besides, Sheffield suspects far too many people are far too lazy to do this. 'They know fine well that if they simply dump their larger waste items on the street, the Council will eventually pick them up anyway.
'Meanwhile we have unslightly piles of old TVs, large cardboard boxes, unwanted sofas etc rotting on our streets for weeks at a time until they get collected.'
What do Spurtle readers think? Send us your views.
[Scott Stevenson ruminates on the statistical mysteries of mattresses at www.blipfoto.com (see 3, 4, 10 May.]