Leading the way for innovative solid waste solutions

1938

The Rogue Legacy Begins

Brothers-in-law Anthony “Tony” Boitano and Charles “Charlie” Bottjer began City Sanitary Service, in Medford, in 1938. This was the precursor of what would eventually become Rogue Disposal & Recycling. The company was Tony’s third venture in the garbage industry, which began with 100 customers and a horse-drawn wagon in the Mount Tabor area of Portland, Oregon in 1921. He later relocated to Klamath Falls in southern Oregon, where he became one of four partners in that community’s trash franchise. Charlie, who was new to the garbage industry, had a background in logging and heavy equipment operation.

1965

Rogue Founder Helps Establish Oregon Refuse and Recycling Association

Tony Boitano helped found the Oregon Refuse and Recycling Association (ORRA). Always looking ahead, this was during a time when “green” was just a color, not a movement that would one day come to define the industry.

1995

Stephen Gambee Takes the Helm at Family-Run Company

Stephen Gambee, Tony Boitano’s grandson, took over the family-run company as President and CEO — positions he held for 27 years until his company retirement in late 2022

1997

Automation Comes to Rogue Disposal & Recycling

Rogue Disposal & Recycling introduced fully automated garbage routes to the Rogue Valley in 1997, and in 2000, was the first company in Oregon to implement automated collection of commingled recyclables.

1999

Transfer Station Is Built, Followed by Materials Recovery Facility and Operations Center

The Table Rock Road operations center was purchased and redeveloped in phases, beginning with the Transfer Station — a full-service location where residents and businesses can bring trash and recycling, buy compost, drop off medical waste, pay their garbage bill and bring a variety of items for recycling that can’t be picked up curbside.

A year later, the new materials recovery facility was opened. Today, this facility principally processes commercial cardboard and commingled recycling streams for shipment to mills and sorting facilities throughout Oregon and Washington. Finally, 2003 saw the completion of the new truck yard, maintenance and crew facilities, and operations offices.

2002

Compost Site at Dry Creek Landfill Receives Permits

After a successful pilot program, permits were approved to create the first and only regional compost facility in southwestern Oregon and northernmost California. This 22-acre facility is where Rogue Valley leaves, grass clippings, other local plant matter and select pre-consumer food wastes are processed to create Rogue Compost.

In order to serve growing gardening and farming communities throughout the area, the site can expand up to 215 acres to handle additional composting as more raw materials become available in the future

2011

Vision For Renewable Energy Closed-Loop System Unveiled

Rogue Waste, Inc. announced a bold new vision for energy independence and a commitment to next-level air quality improvements for the Rogue Valley. Plans are underway to develop a facility to harness and process naturally occurring landfill biogas from Dry Creek Landfill into pipeline quality Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) — a renewable fuel source that can be used to fuel Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) powered vehicles. In conjunction with the Rogue Clean Fuels station, Rogue Waste, Inc. is closer than ever toward our vision for a comprehensive “closed loop” solid waste system. One day, the trucks that collect area trash and recycling will be powered by landfill biogas produced from the garbage generated by residents of the Rogue Valley.

2017

Rogue Waste Becomes Umbrella Name During Website Brand Refresh

The overarching company name was changed to Rogue Waste, Inc, creating an umbrella hierarchy under which all other Rogue companies exist and work together as a cohesive, synergistic family. The company also launched a complete rebranding of the Rogue Disposal & Recycling website — an industry-leading site for customer communication and general information on the solid waste industry. An average of 25,000 users visit the site each month, totaling more than 60,000 page views.