Refuse and recyclable material collectors: Salary, career path, job outlook, education and more
Refuse and recyclable material collectors gather garbage and recyclables from homes and businesses to transport to a dump, landfill, or recycling center. Many collectors lift garbage cans by hand and empty them into their truck. Some collectors drive the garbage or recycling truck along a scheduled route and may use a hydraulic lift to empty the contents of a dumpster into the truck.
- Education Required
- There are no formal educational requirements for anyone to become a hand laborer or material mover.
- Training Required
- Most positions for hand laborers and material movers require less than 1 month of on-the-job training. Some workers need only a few days of training, and most training is done by a supervisor or a more experienced worker who decides when trainees are ready to work on their own.
- Job Outlook
-
The projected percent change in employment from 2016 to 2026: 7% (As fast as average)
(The average growth rate for all occupations is 7 percent.) - Licenses/Certifications
- Refuse and recyclable material collectors who drive trucks that exceed a certain capacitysuch as vehicles with the combined weight of the vehicle, passengers, and cargo exceeding 26,000 poundsmust have a commercial drivers license (CDL). Obtaining a CDL requires passing written, skill, and vision tests.
- Median pay: How much do Hand Laborers and Material Movers make?
- $24,880 Annual Salary
- $11.96 per hour
Careers for Hand Laborers and Material Movers
- Aircraft cleaners
- Auto cleaners
- Auto detailers
- Automobile cleaners
- Automobile detailers
- Baggers
- Beer coil cleaners
- Boat detailers
- Brick offbearers
- Bus cleaners
- Bus washers
- Car wash attendants
- Car washers
- Cargo handlers
- Cart pushers
- Carton wrappers
- Chain offbearers
- Chopper feeders
- Cleaners of vehicles and equipment
- Doffers
- Dryer feeders
- Egg packers
- Equipment cleaners
- Freight handlers
- Garbage collectors
- Gift wrappers
- Grave diggers
- Grocery store baggers
- Hand laborers and freight, stock, and material movers
- Hand packers and packagers
- Hopper feeders
- Hopper fillers
- Line feeders
- Machine cleaners
- Machine feeders and offbearers
- Manufacturing laborers
- Material handlers
- Meat packagers
- Meat wrappers
- Offbearers
- Package handlers
- Package machine can feeders
- Railroad car cleaners
- Recyclable materials collectors
- Refuse collectors
- Sanitation workers
- Scrap metal collectors
- Shipping and receiving material handlers
- Solid waste collectors
- Spike machine feeders
- Spinning doffers
- Spooler operators
- Stock movers
- Trash collectors
- Truck washers
- Utility baggers
- Van loaders
- Wharf laborers