Adams Sanitation, a homegrown Northwest Florida waste hauler that has grown from a small rural operation in Milton to one of the region’s largest collection companies, has been acquired by Texas-based Ecowaste Solutions.

• Ecowaste announced the acquisition publicly on May 1, describing the deal as completing a contiguous Gulf Coast collection and disposal corridor stretching from the Mississippi Gulf Coast through the Florida Panhandle.

Ecowaste Solutions, headquartered in Coppell, Texas, is a regional waste and recycling company operating across 10 states throughout the South and Mid-South.

In a statement, Ecowaste CEO Dustin Reynolds said Adams Sanitation has built strong relationships with municipalities from Crestview to Columbia County, Florida, and praised the company’s fleet and team.

Adams Sanitation’s municipal portfolio includes the city of Crestview, the Santa Rosa School District, Alys Beach, Rosemary Beach, the Town of Jay and recently awarded contracts in Decatur County, Georgia, and Columbia County, Florida. The company serves approximately 29,000 residential customers across Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties, according to Ecowaste.

Tim Bolduc, who has served as Adams Sanitation’s CEO, will stay on as a regional vice president with Ecowaste, according to the company.

Adams Sanitation’s history

Adams Sanitation was founded in the 1980s by Mike and Martha Adams in Holt, beginning as a small operation serving friends and family. The early company served customers across Holt, Baker, Milligan and other rural communities in Okaloosa County.

After Mike Adams’ death in 1994, Martha continued operating the business on her own. In 2000, she remarried and ran the company alongside her husband, Sonny Booth, until 2018, when the business was sold to Northwest Florida entrepreneurs Crystal and Nathan Boyles. At the time of that transition, Adams Sanitation served just over 2,000 customers.

Under the Boyles’ ownership, the company has grown to approximately 120 employees and more than 40 trucks, serving over 30,000 customers across Northwest Florida. The company also operates an office in Decatur County, Georgia.

Martha Adams died in 2021.

Local approvals required

Because Adams Sanitation holds public franchise agreements for solid waste collection in both the city of Crestview and unincorporated Okaloosa County, the ownership transfer required approval from both governments.

The Crestview City Council voted unanimously on April 13 to approve the assignment of the city’s Solid Waste and Recycling Collection Franchise Agreement to EcoSouth Services of Mobile, LLC, triggering a $500,000 payment to the city under a provision in the original 2023 contract. The motion was made by Councilman Brandon Frost and seconded by Councilman Shannon Hayes, and passed 4-0 with one council member absent.

The Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners approved a similar request on April 7 for the county’s non-exclusive franchise for commercial solid waste collection services in unincorporated areas. The county agreement did not include a payment provision tied to the assignment.

City Attorney Jon Holloway told the Crestview council the assignment will not result in any rate increases for customers as a direct result of the ownership change.

Where the $500,000 is going

Crestview City Manager Jessica Leavins said staff will recommend the council earmark the $500,000 for recreation.

A portion would fund a new park designed for younger children located beside the Crestview Public Library. Leavins described it as a “Montessori-type park” that would be fenced and designed for imaginative play, complementing the library’s existing story time programming.

• “We’ve had several requests for the community to ensure that there are places for the younger ones to play, not just the older ones,” Leavins said. “We all hear about what is there for our kids to do.”

The remaining funds would support the Arts and Learning Center on Main Street, potentially funding specialty STEM equipment or instruction, as well as community programming similar to the spring break camp recently held at Allen Park.

Personal contributions to Crestview and Jay

In addition to the contractually required $500,000, Nathan Boyles — a former Okaloosa County commissioner and the current State Representative for District 3 — announced personal contributions to the city of Crestview during the April 13 council meeting.

The Boyles family will contribute $20,000 to the Crestview library system, a cause Boyles said is “near and dear” to Crystal’s heart. Boyles also pledged $20,000 toward renovations at the city’s recently acquired public pool.

• “I think the city is exercising leadership and recognizing that it’s important for folks to have a place to have access to learn how to swim,” Boyles said. “That’s a critical skill set. How do you do that if you don’t have access to a public pool?”

The Boyles family is also making a $25,000 contribution to Bray-Hendricks Park, a roughly $9 million recreational complex under construction in the Town of Jay. The park will include baseball, softball, basketball, football and pickleball fields and courts, as well as a storm shelter and emergency services building.

A ‘hometown success story’

Boyles, who is from North Okaloosa County like his wife, told the Crestview council that the city played a significant role in the company’s growth.

“We’re proud to be able to say that operation has grown,” Boyles said. “But the city of Crestview was a significant piece of that growth story for us, and we think it’s a rare win when you can have a local homegrown business that was able to come up locally and be successful, literally competing against huge national companies.”

Boyles said he and Crystal will retain a smaller equity stake in the company and remain involved in its operations, framing the sale as a new chapter for a company they have grown for nearly a decade.

“Everything has a season, and I think for us it’s time to kind of transition to a slightly different season, which is why we’re at the juncture that we’re at,” Boyles said. “This is going to give Adams the ability to continue to grow, to have the resources that it needs to continue to be successful, and hopefully to continue to be a hometown success story.”