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Hazardous Materials Removal Workers vs Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Hazardous Materials Removal Workers and Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Hazardous Materials Removal Workers Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$48,490
$48,350
Employment · BLS OEWS
50,570
139,180
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
3rd pct
6th pct

At a glance

Dimension Hazardous Materials Removal Workers Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
Median pay $48,490 $48,350
Employment 50,570 139,180
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+1.0%) About average (+0.9%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 5,000 16,900
Typical education · O*NET Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 3rd pct Low · 6th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 2nd pct · 9% of tasks 16th pct · 15% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index Automation-leaning (42.5%) —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman No No

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Shared: Problem Sensitivity, Oral Comprehension, Control Precision, Oral Expression, Near Vision, Critical Thinking, Deductive Reasoning, Category Flexibility, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Speech Recognition, Operation and Control, Information Ordering, Multilimb Coordination, Active Listening, Operations Monitoring, Manual Dexterity, Speech Clarity, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, Selective Attention, Extent Flexibility, Mechanical, English Language, Coordination.

Specific to Hazardous Materials Removal Workers

  • Monitoring
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Written Expression
  • Administration and Management
  • Transportation
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Inductive Reasoning
  • Written Comprehension

Specific to Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

  • Static Strength
  • Reaction Time
  • Trunk Strength
  • Far Vision
  • Visual Color Discrimination
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Finger Dexterity
  • Stamina

Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

Tools & technology

Shared: Facilities management software , Data base user interface and query software .

Specific to Hazardous Materials Removal Workers

Specific to Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Hazardous Materials Removal Workers or Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

More comparisons

Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

Cite this page
Plain

Singulariki. "Hazardous Materials Removal Workers vs Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/hazardous-materials-removal-workers-vs-refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Hazardous Materials Removal Workers vs Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/hazardous-materials-removal-workers-vs-refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-hazardous-materials-removal-workers-vs-refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors,
  title  = {Hazardous Materials Removal Workers vs Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/hazardous-materials-removal-workers-vs-refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors}
}

Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.