Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
Collect and dump refuse or recyclable materials from containers into truck. May drive truck.
Most important skills
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Equipment Maintenance
- Reading Comprehension
- Coordination
Key knowledge
- Mechanical
- English Language
- Transportation
- Customer and Personal Service
- Public Safety and Security
- Administration and Management
- Telecommunications
- Computers and Electronics
What the work involves
- Inspect trucks prior to beginning routes to ensure safe operating condition.
- Refuel trucks or add other fluids, such as oil or brake fluid.
- Fill out defective equipment reports.
- Drive trucks, following established routes, through residential streets or alleys or through business or industrial areas.
- Operate equipment that compresses collected refuse.
- Operate automated or semi-automated hoisting devices that raise refuse bins and dump contents into openings in truck bodies.
- Dismount garbage trucks to collect garbage and remount trucks to ride to the next collection point.
- Communicate with dispatchers concerning delays, unsafe sites, accidents, equipment breakdowns, or other maintenance problems.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (81.5% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (45%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (68.6%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very low | Lower on contact with others than 92% of occupations compared | 42% of surveyed respondents chose “Contact with others most of the time” |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 74% of occupations compared | 49% of surveyed respondents chose “Important” |
| Teamwork | Very low | Lower on teamwork than 97% of occupations compared | 51% of surveyed respondents chose “Important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 69% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 60% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Low | Lower on conflict situations than 77% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Never” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 57% of occupations compared | 54% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Higher on consequence of error than 59% of occupations compared | 29% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: moderate
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 24.41%
- Contact with others about half the time: 11.89%
- Contact with others most of the time: 41.56%
- Constant contact with others: 22.13%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 9.67%
- Fairly important: 25.16%
- Important: 49.46%
- Very important: 9.2%
- Extremely important: 6.51%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2023
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 18.58%
- Fairly important: 4.59%
- Important: 51.28%
- Very important: 16.39%
- Extremely important: 9.15%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2023
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 17.37%
- Limited freedom: 9.46%
- Some freedom: 37.68%
- A lot of freedom: 35.48%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2023
Time pressure
- Never: 23.71%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 2.43%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 0%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 23.51%
- Every day: 50.35%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2023
Conflict situations
- Never: 36.2%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 14.57%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 28.74%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 9.53%
- Every day: 10.96%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 53.88%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 11.06%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 25.37%
- Every day: 9.7%
n = 18, Incumbent 08/2023
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 16.23%
- Fairly serious: 22.12%
- Serious: 18.75%
- Very serious: 14.14%
- Extremely serious: 28.76%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2023
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O*NET-SOC 53-7081.00 · SOC 53-7081 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8