About Marin Sanitary Service

As a new immigrant from Italy, Joe Garbarino’s father and uncle formed the first Scavengers Protective Association in 1920. Hauling garbage in giant burlap bags on his back over the steep hills of San Francisco, John Garbarino quickly learned that people threw away more than they should, and most of it could be reused. He soon began scouring wine bottles, eyeglasses and shoes and reselling them.

MSS began in 1948 when together the families Garbarino, Segale, Zappetini, Marconi and Zanotti left San Francisco and ventured into the growing communities of Marin County to start a new garbage service. In 1994, the County of Marin granted a franchise for additional unincorporated areas around San Rafael. MSS currently services more than 33,000 residential and commercial accounts.

Now there are three generations of Garbarinos working at Marin Sanitary. The family has toiled long and hard over the years to get Marin County to recycle over 74% of all waste. The business has grown and expanded into three separate divisions in order to address every facet of waste management and recycling.

“The Garbarinos practically invented recycling. Their innovative operations have served as a model for both the state and the nation. It has kept them at the forefront of the movement to reduce, reuse and recycle, and end waste as we know it today.”

–Rosalie Mule, California Integrated Waste Management Board