South San Francisco Scavenger Company

South San Francisco Scavenger Company (SSFSC) and Blue Line Transfer,Inc. are family-owned companies that have been providing solid waste and recycling services to our local communities since 1914. We strive to provide quality service to our customers, minimize the negative impacts of our collection and processing operations and maintain a safe work environment for our employees. We proudly serve businesses and residents in South San Francisco, Millbrae, Brisbane and San Francisco International Airport.

SSFSC provides a full range of pre- and post-collection services to assure efficient, responsive, and hands-on waste management in the face of rapidly changing regulatory and environmental challenges. Since moving to their current location in 2001, SSFSC and Blue Line Transfer and Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) continue to upgrade their processing equipment to accommodate increased diversion of construction and demolition debris, wood waste, plastics, commercial food waste and other materials. Read more about it here

Since our inception we have been on the cutting-edge of the latest advances in waste management technology and service. In 2013, we began construction on the nation’s first anaerobic digestion facility that processes food scraps into compressed natural gas (CNG), which fuels our collection fleet. Our efforts have been recognized with multiple community awards.

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, with recovery of recyclables starting on opening day!
• In the 1980s the firm was 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 Blue Line Transfer Inc. 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, SSFSC administration building obtained LEED certification for Existing Building: operations and maintenance.

Today, our professionals collect, receive, process and recycle (or transfer for landfill disposal) an average of 220,000 tons of waste a year. In 2009 we recycled and/or composted 39% of our total incoming waste, which contributes to the cumulative community recycling rate of 59%.In June 2014 we broke ground on the Blue Line Biogenic CNG Facility. The Facility takes the organic portion of the waste stream and, through anaerobic digestion technology, creates Biogenic Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to fuel our collection vehicles. Not only is this advanced technology the first of its kind, it is the first facility in the United States to convert the organics collected into CNG to fuel those same collection vehicles — a true closed-loop, full-circle process.

Commercial Food Scraps

Food Scraps to Fuel: Local, Sustainable, and Innovative.South San Francisco Scavenger Company is now offering businesses the chance to participate in an innovative new program for food scrap recycling. This program uses a separate container to collect food scraps and food–soiled paper from your business to create compost and fuel for collection trucks. This ground–breaking method of converting food waste to fuel is one the first of its kind in the country, and many businesses have already signed on.

California Laws Require Proper Sorting at Businesses & Multifamily Dwellings

California Assembly Bill 341 requires businesses that generate four (4) or more cubic yards of waste per week to recycle. The law also applies to multifamily dwellings of five (5) units or more, regardless of the amount of waste generated.California Assembly Bill 1826 requires all businesses and multifamily dwellings of five (5) units or more to subscribe to organics recycling service.

Transfer Station

Blue Line Transfer, Inc. is a full service public disposal and recycling facility. Our South San Francisco location is conveniently located one mile east of Highway 101.Our disposal rates are the most competitive in the area. We use certified weigh scales to make sure you pay the fairest price.

AD Facility – First Year of Operation 2015

Zero Waste Energy (ZWE), Lafayette, California, and Blue Line Transfer Inc., South San Francisco, California, were announced as the recipient of the National Waste & Recycling Association’s (NWRA’s) 2015 Recycling Equipment Innovator of the Year for its Blue Line Biogenic CNG Facility during the Waste360 Recycling Summit. The award recognizes recycling equipment designers and manufacturers that successfully challenge and advance recycling sector operations through innovation in design and manufacturing that increases the effectiveness or efficiency of recycling equipment and operations.

Our Focus on Sustainability

SSF Scavenger Co. and Blue Line Transfer are family owned companies that have been providing solid waste and recycling services to our local communities since 1914. Since our inception, we have strived to provide quality service to our customers, minimize the negative impacts of our collection and processing operations and maintain a safe work environment for our employees. Our efforts have been recognized through several awards and we continue to work towards our initiatives set in our first Sustainability Report.

LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance

In January 2013 SSF Scavenger Co. achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification for its administrative building at 500 E. Jamie Court, South San Francisco.The LEED rating system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is the foremost program for buildings that are designed, constructed, maintained and operated for improved environmental and human health performance.

To support the certification effort, SSF Scavenger implemented a range of improvements, including: upgrading to highly efficient indoor plumbing, landscaping with drought tolerant native plants and installing web-enabled smart irrigation controllers, insulating with blown-in foam, installing an electric vehicle charging station, and reviewing and updating sustainable purchasing and building operations plans and policies.