That fall, Carmela added a fifth truck to her fleet—a refurbished 1998 Mack, painted in the original yellow. On the side, in fresh paint, the motto now read: “We take what you leave. And we leave what matters: dignity, reliability, and a town that stays clean.”
The founder, Salvatore “Sal the Can” Rizzo, started the business in 1992 with one beat-up dump truck and a motto stenciled on the side in fading yellow paint: “We take what you leave.” By 2025, his daughter, Carmela, ran the show. And the motto had become a warning.
Then someone spray-painted “Go home” on the side of a Priority trailer parked at a local depot. Police were called. Tempers flared at a township council meeting, where a Priority rep accused Millstone of “organized waste-terrorism.” millstone nj trash company
And every Thursday morning, without fail, Vinny still carried Gladys’s cans back up her driveway. Because in Millstone, New Jersey, trash day wasn’t about waste. It was about who you trusted to handle the mess—and who stuck around long after the bins were empty.
But the turning point came on a Saturday morning in late May. A Priority truck, trying to navigate the narrow, potholed lane behind Old Mill Road, got stuck axle-deep in a collapsed sewer drain—a drain that Millstone’s drivers had known to avoid for decades. The driver, new to town, panicked. He called dispatch. Dispatch called a tow. Two hours later, the truck was still there, blocking four driveways, while Carmela’s crews quietly worked their own routes a block over. That fall, Carmela added a fifth truck to
First, a hydraulic line on one of their trucks was found cut—clean, professional. Priority blamed Millstone. Carmela blamed vandals.
Carmela stood up, calm as still water. “I run a trash company, not a gang. But I’ll tell you this—Millstone isn’t a spreadsheet. It’s a family. And you don’t buy family with a coupon.” And the motto had become a warning
It was corny, but it worked. A few customers came back. Then more. Then Priority’s shiny green trucks started getting… delayed.