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They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, but for someone like Warren Fryefield, it’s both.
Fryefield is the co-founder and co-owner of Community Disposal in Springfield. Next year, it will celebrate its 20th anniversary.
Founded with partner and college buddy Jeff Warner, the company collects waste from dumpsters, curbsides and trash compactors at commercial sites and multifamily communities and provides commercial yard waste pickup services.
Its clients range from locally owned mom-and-pop businesses to global corporations headquartered in Jacksonville.
Its community partners include the Jacksonville Icemen, Jacksonville Arboretum & Botanical Gardens and the First Coast Apartment Association.
“We are Jacksonville’s only locally owned waste-hauling company,” said Fryefield, 41.
“Anything the big guys can do, we can do.”
According to its website, Community Disposal provides “top-notch, honest, and reliable service to our customers, and the results will speak for themselves. We discovered other companies failed to meet the specific needs of individual communities.”
The company has 10 employees.
A Jacksonville native, Fryefield is the son of the late Circuit Judge Peter Fryefield, who died in 2009.
Warren Fryefield attended Stanton College Preparatory School and the University of Florida, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in international economics.
He married “an Ortega girl” and is the father of 5- and 2-year-olds.
In addition to Community Disposal, he owns Riverside bar and arcade Keg & Coin.
Did he think he’d make his fortune in garbage?
“Not a chance. I get that question a lot,” Fryefield said. “People wonder, ‘How did you end up doing this?’ It’s not for everybody, that’s for sure. We had a guy show up one morning, and he lasted 15 seconds.”
The company started as a business that provided residential services, including pressure washing and door-side pickup at apartments. Eventually, the 94-unit multifamily community Beauclerc Lakes asked whether the company could take its waste to the landfill.
“We thought, ‘We can do that. Why not?’” Fryefield said. “We bought a trailer. We already had pickup trucks, and we started doing that.”
Beauclerc Lakes remains under contract.
“With most businesses, they say you think you’re going to do one thing, and you end up in something tangentially related,” Fryefield said.
“The example I always give is you think you’re going to be a sandwich shop, but you end up becoming a bakery.”
In 2010, the company outgrew its Southside location and moved to 346 E. 11th St., north of Downtown.
Fryefield said the majority of its business is in Jacksonville, but Community Disposal is licensed in Clay County as well.
Until there is more “route density” to allow for more stops in areas like Green Cove Springs, Fleming Island and Orange Park, Duval County is where the company intends to expand.
“There’s so much room for growth in Jacksonville,” he said.
“It’s just about getting more trucks on the road and getting more contracts. I don’t want to say it’s basic, but every business makes trash. Every person makes trash. So there is plenty of opportunity. It’s really about scaling it all up.”
As for any negatives of being in the waste-hauling business, Fryefield points to one.
“Plenty of days I come home and have had to strip outside,” he said.
“One of the rougher parts is when you get home with young kids, and they want to come up and give you a hug, and you have to say, ‘Not today.’”
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