Garden City Sanitation’s history is based exclusively in California’s San Francisco Bay Area and dates back to the late 1800s through its affiliate, South San Francisco Scavenger, when garbage was collected using horses and carts. Independently owned and operated, Garden City Sanitation (GCS) partners collectively embody generations of solid waste and recycling experience.
Most of the old photographs posted on this site are from our own archives. The recent trend toward environmental conservation through recycling is simply a return to the very roots that started GCS and its affiliated companies. Recycling waste, or “scavenging” as it was often termed in the early years, was being performed under the direction of individuals linked to the GCS team more than 50 years prior to the advent of compaction collection vehicles in the 1950s – which nearly eliminated recycling efforts for approximately 30 years.