Salary and Outlook

According to the US Department of Labor, there are 138,700 people employed as refuse and recyclable material collectors in the United States. The median annual salary is $38,500. Entry level employees earn approximately $24,950 per year and senior employees earn approximately $62,310 per year.

Estimates do not include other potential benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, or retirement benefits that may be offered by employers.

Job Duties

• Operate automated or semi-automated hoisting devices that raise refuse bins and dump contents into openings in truck bodies.
• Make special pickups of recyclable materials, such as food scraps, used oil, discarded computers, or other electronic items.
• Fill out defective equipment reports.
• Communicate with dispatchers concerning delays, unsafe sites, accidents, equipment breakdowns, or other maintenance problems.
• Check road or weather conditions to determine how routes will be affected.
• Clean trucks or compactor bodies after routes have been completed.
• Tag garbage or recycling containers to inform customers of problems, such as excess garbage or inclusion of items that are not permitted.
• Provide quotes for refuse collection contracts.
• Organize schedules for refuse collection.
• Sort items set out for recycling and throw materials into designated truck compartments.
• Dismount garbage trucks to collect garbage and remount trucks to ride to the next collection point.
• Refuel trucks or add other fluids, such as oil or brake fluid.
• Inspect trucks prior to beginning routes to ensure safe operating condition.
• Drive trucks, following established routes, through residential streets or alleys or through business or industrial areas.
• Operate equipment that compresses collected refuse.
• Dump refuse or recyclable materials at disposal sites.

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