Jobs / Transportation and material moving / 53-7062.04
Recycling and Reclamation Workers
Prepare and sort materials or products for recycling. Identify and remove hazardous substances. Dismantle components of products such as appliances.
- US jobs
- 2,950,280 (SOC 53-7062 group, "Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand")
- Median wage
- $40,240 a year
- Job family
- Transportation and material moving
Can agents do the work of recycling and reclamation workers?
We read the evidence for the whole job family, Transportation and material moving: Unmeasured (no change in 12 months)
No direct benchmark gives a success rate.
0% of this occupation's work, by O*NET work activities, is measured by a direct benchmark (figures for the SOC 53-7062 group).
- 17%Sort materials or productsNot measured
- 10%Operate lifting or moving equipmentNot measured
- 10%Move materials, equipment, or suppliesNot measured
- 9%Operate industrial processing or production equipmentNot measured
- 9%Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areasNot measured
- 9%Load products, materials, or equipment for transportation or further processingNot measured
- 6%Maintain operational recordsNot measured
- 6%Inspect facilities or equipmentNot measured
Benchmarks for this occupation
These benchmarks name this occupation in their job mapping.
Also relevant
These benchmarks cover part of this family's work, or have no result yet. They do not set its step.
Benchmarks for the job family
These cover work in transportation and material moving, not always this occupation's tasks.
Direct evidence
Work benchmarks mapped primary to this family. They set the step when they report how many tasks agents complete.
- 82%Waymo Driver (rider-only, 220.6M miles through March 2026) · Mar 2026Unrated
Typical tasks
From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.
- Sort materials, such as metals, glass, wood, paper or plastics, into appropriate containers for recycling.
- Clean recycling yard by sweeping, raking, picking up broken glass and loose paper debris, or moving barrels and bins.
- 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.
- Sort metals to separate high-grade metals, such as copper, brass, and aluminum, for recycling.
- Clean, inspect, or lubricate recyclable collection equipment or perform routine maintenance or minor repairs on recycling equipment, such as star gears, finger sorters, destoners, belts, and grinders.
- Collect and sort recyclable construction materials, such as concrete, drywall, plastics, or wood, into containers.
- 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.
- Operate balers to compress recyclable materials into bundles or bales.
- Clean materials, such as metals, according to recycling requirements.
- Record logs of recycled materials or waste chemicals removed from products.
- Operate processing equipment, such as fiber-sorters and grinders, to sort, crush, or grind recyclable materials.
Other job titles for this occupation (24)
Bobcat Driver · Box Sorter · Convenience Recycle Center Technician (Convenience Recycle Center Tech) · Deconstruction and Decontamination Waste Operations Specialist (D and D Waste Operations Specialist) · Non-Ferrous Material Handler · Sort Line Worker · Sorter · Transfer Station Operator · Auto Dismantler · Computer Recycling Worker · Household Hazardous Waste Recycling Worker · Materials Sorter · Pallet Sorter · Reclamation Worker · Recyclable Materials Sorter · Recycling and Reclamation Worker · Recycling Sorter · Recycling Technician · Recycling Worker · Refuse and Recycling Worker · Refuse Laborer · Scrap Metal Processing Worker · Shredding Specialist · Waste Management Recycling Technician