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Recycling and Reclamation 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 Recycling and Reclamation 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.”

Recycling and Reclamation Workers Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$38,940
$48,350
Employment · BLS OEWS
2,982,530
139,180
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
12th pct
6th pct

At a glance

Dimension Recycling and Reclamation Workers Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
Median pay $38,940 $48,350
Employment 2,982,530 139,180
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+1.5%) About average (+0.9%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 384,300 16,900
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 12th pct Low · 6th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 6th pct · 12% of tasks 16th pct · 15% of tasks
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
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: Manual Dexterity, Control Precision, Mechanical, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Multilimb Coordination, Near Vision, Operation and Control, Category Flexibility, Finger Dexterity, Trunk Strength, Active Listening, Operations Monitoring, Oral Comprehension, Oral Expression, Information Ordering, Selective Attention, Rate Control, Reaction Time, English Language, Far Vision, Depth Perception, Problem Sensitivity, Response Orientation, Static Strength, Visual Color Discrimination, Speech Recognition, Speaking, Critical Thinking.

Specific to Recycling and Reclamation Workers

  • Production and Processing
  • Administration and Management
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Education and Training
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Monitoring
  • Flexibility of Closure
  • Perceptual Speed

Specific to Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

  • Extent Flexibility
  • Speech Clarity
  • Equipment Maintenance
  • Stamina
  • Glare Sensitivity
  • Hearing Sensitivity
  • Auditory Attention
  • Reading Comprehension

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

Specific to Recycling and Reclamation Workers

Specific to Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Recycling and Reclamation 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. "Recycling and Reclamation 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; 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/recycling-and-reclamation-workers-vs-refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Recycling and Reclamation Workers vs Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/recycling-and-reclamation-workers-vs-refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-recycling-and-reclamation-workers-vs-refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors,
  title  = {Recycling and Reclamation 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; 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/recycling-and-reclamation-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.