About This Career Path
Prepare and sort materials or products for recycling. Identify and remove hazardous substances. Dismantle components of products such as appliances.
Transportation, Logistics & Distribution
Prepare and sort materials or products for recycling.
Transportation, Logistics & Distribution Industry
Recycling and Reclamation Workers
Average
$34,770
ANNUAL
$16.72
HOURLY
Entry Level
$28,730
ANNUAL
$13.81
HOURLY
Mid Level
$30,650
ANNUAL
$14.73
HOURLY
Expert Level
$47,260
ANNUAL
$22.72
HOURLY
Recycling and Reclamation Workers
78,010
Projected job openings through 2030
Recycling and Reclamation Workers
01
Sort materials, such as metals, glass, wood, paper or plastics, into appropriate containers for recycling.
02
Clean recycling yard by sweeping, raking, picking up broken glass and loose paper debris, or moving barrels and bins.
03
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.
04
Sort metals to separate high-grade metals, such as copper, brass, and aluminum, for recycling.
05
Collect and sort recyclable construction materials, such as concrete, drywall, plastics, or wood, into containers.
06
Extract chemicals from discarded appliances, such as air conditioners or refrigerators, using specialized machinery, such as refrigerant recovery equipment.
07
Deposit recoverable materials into chutes or place materials on conveyor belts.
08
Operate balers to compress recyclable materials into bundles or bales.
09
Clean materials, such as metals, according to recycling requirements.
10
Record logs of recycled materials or waste chemicals removed from products.
Recycling and Reclamation Workers
Common knowledge, skills & abilities needed to get a foot in the door.
KNOWLEDGE
Production and Processing
KNOWLEDGE
Mechanical
KNOWLEDGE
Administration and Management
KNOWLEDGE
Public Safety and Security
KNOWLEDGE
Education and Training
SKILL
Operation and Control
SKILL
Active Listening
SKILL
Monitoring
SKILL
Operations Monitoring
SKILL
Critical Thinking
ABILITY
Manual Dexterity
ABILITY
Control Precision
ABILITY
Arm-Hand Steadiness
ABILITY
Multilimb Coordination
ABILITY
Near Vision
Transportation, Logistics & Distribution
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