South San Francisco Scavenger Company (SSFSC) began collecting waste and recyclables in 1914. Over the years, the waste and recycling industry has had to adapt due to increasingly stringent and complex environmental health standards put in place in order to protect and preserve the health and welfare of our communities. SSFSC has been a leader in the waste industry throughout our 100-year history:

• In the 1920s and 1930s SSFSC pioneered the transition from open dumps to the sanitary landfills of today.
• In the 1950s and 1960s we helped perfect the collection of refuse in watertight collection vehicles.
• In the 1970s we started the first transfer station in northern California, Blue Line Transfer (BLT), with recovery of recyclables starting on opening day!
• In the 1980s we were among the first to install prototype waste reduction and resource recovery technologies, including curbside collection of recyclable materials, motor oil and oil filters.
• In the 1990s we designed and began construction on a state-of-the-art transfer station and materials recovery facility (MRF).
• In 2001 SSFSC and BLT moved to their current location with more capacity and equipment for processing and diverting materials from the landfill.
• In 2008, 22,000 square feet of solar panels were installed on the roof of the MRF which resulted in an annual reduction of 26 % in electricity purchases.
• In 2013 our administration building obtained LEED Certification for Existing Building.
• In 2014 we broke ground on the Blue Line Biogenic CNG/Anaerobic Digestion (AD) Facility.
• In 2019 we began a MRF enhancement project introducing cutting edge optical and robotic sorting technology to BLT.