In a nation the place girls nonetheless account for lower than 30% of senior management roles in historically male-dominated sectors, the 50-year legacy of Rubbish Disposal & Sanitation Programs Ltd. (GDSS) stands as a strong instance of grit, grace, and progress.
Based in 1975 by Dorothea Gordon-Smith and her late husband, Michael, GDSS has advanced from a single-truck operation into one in every of Jamaica’s most revered waste administration firms, with a transparent give attention to sustainability, neighborhood well-being, and fairness.
In the present day, GDSS operates a fleet of 35 vans, employs over 100 Jamaicans, and serves roughly 650 purchasers throughout 11 parishes, with places of work in Kingston, Montego Bay and Salem. The corporate affords complete waste disposal, recycling, and sanitation providers to each business and institutional purchasers, together with a few of the nation’s most acknowledged organizations.
From one truck to a nationwide community
Based on Gordon-Smith, GDSS was born out of necessity. Her husband wanted rubbish assortment for the printing firm that he was operating, and the couple determined to speculate their financial savings into buying a single truck. Quickly after, she dove headfirst into constructing GDSS, forsaking a profession in banking on the recommendation of her mom, who prompt she would have “extra time” for her younger household. “Not so,” Gordon-Smith stated, recalling years of lengthy hours, arduous work, and sacrifice.
What began small grew steadily by way of a long time of adaptation. Within the Nineteen Seventies and ’80s, GDSS diversified into paper provide for West Indies Pulp and Paper, then glass assortment for West Indies Glass Co., pivoting every time market shifts compelled closures. These early classes in resilience grew to become an indicator of the corporate’s technique.
In 2024, GDSS made important strides in sustainability—exporting over 1,000 tonnes of glass and facilitating the gathering and recycling of over 500 tonnes of plastics and paper by way of strategic companions.
These achievements are particularly notable in a rustic that generates an estimated 800,000 tonnes of stable waste yearly, in accordance with the Nationwide Stable Waste Administration Authority (NSWMA). Solely about 8–10% of Jamaica’s waste is at present recycled, putting firms like GDSS on the forefront of the push for a cleaner, extra round economic system.
Celebrating by way of service
In Could, GDSS launched its golden anniversary celebrations with a church service at Webster Memorial United Church, a long-standing consumer of over 26 years. The service introduced collectively a large cross-section of the corporate’s historical past—workforce members, companions, and constant purchasers, a few of whom have been with the corporate since its inception.
“With fifty years of service, progress, and unwavering dedication to our neighborhood and atmosphere, our story is not only about longevity. It’s about resilience, imaginative and prescient, and dedication,” stated Gordon-Smith in her remarks. These phrases rang very true given the obstacles GDSS has overcome: trade volatility, shifts in recycling infrastructure, and altering nationwide waste administration insurance policies.
Additionally marking its fiftieth yr, on June 7, GDSS hosted its “Wholesome You, More healthy Setting” Well being Honest for the Riverton Metropolis neighborhood and environs—the neighborhood adjoining the corporate’s head workplace and residential to Jamaica’s largest landfill.
In a neighborhood traditionally underserved and stigmatized on account of its proximity to the landfill, the well being truthful provided a welcome second of delight. The gesture is per GDSS’s broader mission not solely to handle waste, but in addition to assist communities thrive regardless of the challenges posed by their atmosphere.
The day-long celebration of well being, wellness, and environmental consciousness offered free well being screenings in partnership with the Nationwide Well being Fund and the Diabetes Affiliation of Jamaica, alongside wellness cubicles, massages by Exhale Spa, and household leisure. Longtime purchasers similar to Digicel, JPS, Cal’s Manufacturing, Salada Meals, Lasco Monetary Companies, the Registrar Basic Division, and others have been additionally current, underscoring GDSS’s distinctive enterprise mannequin rooted in neighborhood engagement and long-term belief.
“From the outset, we envisioned a future the place the administration of waste would actively contribute to a more healthy neighborhood,” Gordon-Smith shared.
Lady-owned, future-focused
Gordon-Smith’s journey as a lady main a waste administration firm is itself exceptional. The Jamaican waste and sanitation sector stays closely male-dominated, notably in operational and govt roles. Her management—spanning all 5 a long time—represents a unprecedented breaking of boundaries and a roadmap for inclusive progress.
Based on a 2023 Caribbean Growth Financial institution report, women-led companies in nontraditional industries nonetheless wrestle to entry capital and trade recognition. But GDSS has grown organically, constructed a stable status, and constantly reinvested in innovation.
With local weather change, waste administration coverage reform, and round economic system ideas now on the middle of regional sustainability agendas, GDSS is poised to stay an important participant in Jamaica’s environmental future.
As Dorothea Gordon-Smith instructed these gathered at Webster Memorial, quoting Winston Churchill: “Success will not be closing; failure will not be deadly. It’s the braveness to proceed that counts.”
Half a century on, that braveness nonetheless defines GDSS—and Jamaica is cleaner, more healthy, and extra hopeful due to it.
