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Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors vs Hazardous Materials Removal Workers

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors and Hazardous Materials Removal Workers 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.”

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

At a glance

Dimension Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors Hazardous Materials Removal Workers
Median pay $48,350 $48,490
Employment 139,180 50,570
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+0.9%) About average (+1.0%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 16,900 5,000
Typical education · O*NET Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
AI exposure · published exposure studies Low · 6th pct Low · 3rd pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 16th pct · 15% of tasks 2nd pct · 9% 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: Multilimb Coordination, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Mechanical, Manual Dexterity, Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Oral Comprehension, Extent Flexibility, Near Vision, Active Listening, Speaking, Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Information Ordering, Control Precision, Speech Recognition, Speech Clarity, English Language, Critical Thinking, Category Flexibility, Selective Attention, Reading Comprehension, Coordination, Deductive Reasoning.

Specific to Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

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

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

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 Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

Specific to Hazardous Materials Removal Workers

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors or Hazardous Materials Removal Workers — 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. "Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors vs Hazardous Materials Removal Workers." 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/refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors-vs-hazardous-materials-removal-workers

APA

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

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors-vs-hazardous-materials-removal-workers,
  title  = {Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors vs Hazardous Materials Removal Workers},
  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/refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors-vs-hazardous-materials-removal-workers}
}

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