EIA Adds to Hall of Fame

Bob Gregory, CEO and principal owner of Texas Disposal Systems Inc., Austin, was inducted into the Environmental Industries Association (EIA) Hall of Fame. EIA is the nonprofit trade association that represents for-profit companies in the waste service and equipment industry throughout the United States. 

The EIA Hall of Fame is for industry leaders who, over the course of more than 20 years, have made significant contributions to the industry and their community.

Texas Disposal Systems Inc. (TDS) is the largest independently owned solid waste collection and disposal company in Austin and central Texas and one of the largest in the nation.

Gregory was born into the scrap metal and recycling business, working for his father’s company in the 1960s. In 1971, he started his own scrap metal business, Texas Alloys (later Txalloy Inc.), focusing on recovery of metals from electronic scrap. In 1977, Gregory and his brother, Jim, entered the solid waste and recycling collection business, founding TDS.

In the late 1980s the company added a landfill and in 1991, TDS opened Texas’ first fully integrated landfill, composting and recycling facility. Today, the company employs more than 500 people and serves more than 100,000 customers. 

Gregory is the former president of the Texas Solid Waste Management Resource Recovery Advisory Council and the former chairman of the Subtitle D Advisory Panel under the Texas Water Commission. He was appointed to the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Compact Commission by Gov. Rick Perry in 2009.

“We are honored to recognize Bob for his dedicated service,” says Bruce J. Parker, president and CEO of EIA. “His achievements, both professionally and within the community, are impressive. Bob represents the best of the solid waste industry, and we are proud to include him among the Hall of Fame.”

Gregory has been a member of NSWMA since 1978 and served as chairman of Texas chapter from 1991 to 2003 and as board of governors representative from 1998 to 2001. He received an NSWMA Distinguished Service Award in 1994 and the Member of the Year award in 2000.

Gregory is active in philanthropic activities in his community. In 2000 he opened the TDS Exotic Game Ranch and Pavilion on land that also is home to landfill, composting and recycling facilities. This facility has hosted, at no charge, more than 1,400 events and helped to raise more than $16 million for local charities and educational groups. 

The awards ceremony took place in Atlanta as part of the waste industry’s national trade show, WasteExpo 2010.