GDSS prepping for succession
Commercial trash boss exiting in 2026 after five decades
After five decades at the helm of one of Jamaica’s private and community-rooted waste management companies, Dorothea Gordon-Smith is preparing to hand over the reins of Garbage Disposal & Sanitation Systems Limited, GDSS, to the next generation.
She will be retiring by the end of 2026.
“I am in the process of executing that plan,” Gordon-Smith said, adding that two of her children are involved in the company’s day-to-day operations.
Founded in 1975 by Gordon-Smith and her late husband, Michael Gordon, GDSS has evolved from a single-truck operation into one of Jamaica’s largest waste management companies. The company offers comprehensive waste disposal, recycling, and sanitation services to both commercial and institutional clients.
Today, GDSS operates a fleet of 35 trucks. Gordon-Smith says she prizes the US-made International trucks for their sturdiness. GDSS also employs over 100 Jamaicans, and serves approximately 650 clients across 11 parishes, with offices in Kingston, Montego Bay, and Salem in St Ann.
However, Gordon-Smith was not as forthcoming about the company’s finances and the level of business it actually does. She says questions about turnover are off-limits.
“I am not going to tell you that. I can tell you that GDSS has between 45 per cent and 55 per cent of the commercial business. I’m not going to tell you about turnover,” she reiterated.
GDSS goes head-to-head with rivals, such as Minott Services and Premier Waste Management, along with a growing number of small players. Gordon-Smith is said to be the only female company leader among the pack.
GDSS holds its own in the market by giving “value for money and maintaining strong relationships”, going as far as offering training on waste management to clients, she said. To manage costs, the company has a corps of 20 workers whose job is to maintain the trucks, covering vital areas such as mechanical, electrical and hydraulics.
At start-up, the company used to outsource the truck repairs, but soon recognised that the practice was milking the company.
“… I recognised that it didn’t make sense. That is the most expensive part of our operation,” Gordon-Smith explained.
She says GDSS was born out of necessity. Her husband, who was the CEO of a printing company, was in need of garbage collection services, and the couple decided to invest their savings in purchasing a single truck.
“That was in the 1970s, when the printing industry was at its peak, and he saw a need to clear commercial waste because the printing industry generated so much,” she said.
Gordon-Smith was then employed to Scotiabank Jamaica at the King Street branch. Before that, she worked at CIBC and other banks.
“By that time, I was on my third child. In those days, every time you got pregnant, you had to resign and get rehired,” Gordon-Smith recounted.
She left her promising career in banking on the advice of her mother, who suggested she would have “more time” for her young family.
“Not so,” Gordon-Smith said, recalling years of long hours, hard work and sacrifice to establish and grow the business.
What started small, grew steadily through decades of adaptation. In the 1970s and 1980s, GDSS diversified into paper supply for client West Indies Pulp and Paper Limited, then glass collection for West Indies Glass Company, pivoting each time market shifts forced closures. Both West Indies Pulp and West Indies Glass are now defunct.
The early lessons in resilience became a hallmark of GDSS’s strategy.
In 2024, the waste disposal company reported big strides in sustainability, exporting over 1,000 tonnes of glass and facilitating the collection and recycling of more than 500 tonnes of plastics and paper through partnerships.
These achievements are especially notable in a country that generates approximately 800,000 tonnes of solid waste annually, according to the National Solid Waste Management Authority, a government agency. Yet, only about eight to 10 per cent of Jamaica’s waste is currently recycled.
GDSS’s partnerships now extend beyond traditional waste collection to include recycling logistics, export coordination, and corporate waste audits – supporting clients in achieving their ESG, or environmental, social, and governance goals, according to Gordon-Smith.
“From the outset, we envisioned a future where the management of waste would actively contribute to a healthier community,” she said.
Gordon-Smith’s journey as a woman leading what is seen as a thriving waste management company is itself noteworthy. The Jamaican waste and sanitation sector remains heavily male-dominated, both in operational and executive roles.
A 2023 Caribbean Development Bank report found that women-led businesses in non-traditional industries such as construction, logistics, and waste management, still face structural barriers to capital, industry access, and institutional recognition.