Transportation and Material Moving · Holland code RC

Recycling and Reclamation Workers

Prepare and sort materials or products for recycling. Identify and remove hazardous substances. Dismantle components of products such as appliances.

Also called: Non-Ferrous Material Handler, Sort Line Worker, Sorter, Transfer Station Operator, Bobcat Driver, Box Sorter, Convenience Recycle Center Technician (Convenience Recycle Center Tech), Deconstruction and Decontamination Waste Operations Specialist (D and D Waste Operations Specialist).

O*NET 53-7062.04

At a glance

US median annual pay: $40,240; Middle half earn $36,090 to $46,920. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED); 74% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 2 of 5; Some preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Collect and sort recyclable construction materials, such as concrete, drywall, plastics, or wood, into containers.
Sort materials, such as metals, glass, wood, paper or plastics, into appropriate containers for recycling.
Extract chemicals from discarded appliances, such as air conditioners or refrigerators, using specialized machinery, such as refrigerant recovery equipment.
Deposit recoverable materials into chutes or place materials on conveyor belts.
Clean recycling yard by sweeping, raking, picking up broken glass and loose paper debris, or moving barrels and bins.
Operate balers to compress recyclable materials into bundles or bales.
Clean materials, such as metals, according to recycling requirements.
Operate forklifts, pallet jacks, power lifts, or front-end loaders to load bales, bundles, or other heavy items onto trucks for shipping to smelters or other recycled materials processing facilities.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.1 / 5
Monitoring3.1 / 5
Speaking2.8 / 5
Critical Thinking2.8 / 5
Reading Comprehension2.6 / 5
Active Learning2.5 / 5

Knowledge areas

Production and Processing3.9 / 5
Mechanical3.5 / 5
Administration and Management3.5 / 5
Public Safety and Security3.5 / 5
Education and Training3.4 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.2 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic88
Investigative17
Artistic0
Social5
Enterprising10
Conventional56

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

recycling specialist · DE Recycling-Fachkraft · FR rudologue
hazardous waste technician · DE Techniker gefährliche Abfälle/Technikerin gefährliche Abfälle · FR technicien en déchets dangereux/technicienne en déchets dangereux
liquid waste treatment plant operator · DE Steuerer von Flüssigabfallaufbereitungsanlagen/Steuerin von Flüssigabfallaufbereitungsanlagen · FR conducteur d’installations de traitement de déchets liquides/conductrice d’installations de traitement de déchets liquides
solid waste operator · DE Steuerer von Festabfallaufbereitungsanlagen/Steuerin von Festabfallaufbereitungsanlagen · FR conducteur d’installations de traitement de déchets solides/conductrice d’installations de traitement de déchets solides
dismantling worker · DE Metallarbeiter im Bereich Demontage/Metallarbeiterin im Bereich Demontage · FR démanteleur/démanteleuse
refuse collector · DE Müllmann/Müllfrau · FR éboueur/éboueuse

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Steel erectors (5311)8,200 employed
Water and sewerage plant operatives (8134)21,000 employed
Refuse and salvage occupations (9225)30,800 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the lower third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -1.71. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (53-7062).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test