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Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors vs Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners

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

A factual, source-backed comparison of Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors and Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners 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 Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$48,350
$49,140
Employment · BLS OEWS
139,180
29,050
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
6th pct
25th pct

At a glance

Dimension Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners
Median pay $48,350 $49,140
Employment 139,180 29,050
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection About average (+0.9%) Growing fast (+7.6%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 16,900 2,900
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 · 6th pct Low · 25th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk 16th pct · 15% of tasks 3rd pct · 10% 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: Multilimb Coordination, Arm-Hand Steadiness, Static Strength, Mechanical, Manual Dexterity, Reaction Time, Trunk Strength, Operations Monitoring, Operation and Control, Oral Comprehension, Extent Flexibility, Near Vision, Far Vision, Active Listening, Oral Expression, Problem Sensitivity, Control Precision, English Language, Critical Thinking, Equipment Maintenance, Selective Attention, Depth Perception, Hearing Sensitivity, Auditory Attention, Coordination, Deductive Reasoning.

Specific to Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

  • Speaking
  • Information Ordering
  • Visual Color Discrimination
  • Speech Recognition
  • Speech Clarity
  • Category Flexibility
  • Finger Dexterity
  • Stamina

Specific to Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners

  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Transportation
  • Flexibility of Closure
  • Public Safety and Security
  • Mathematics
  • Administration and Management
  • Troubleshooting
  • Repairing

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 Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors

Specific to Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners

Full profiles

This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors or Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners — 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 Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners." 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-septic-tank-servicers-and-sewer-pipe-cleaners

APA

Singulariki. (2026). Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors vs Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors-vs-septic-tank-servicers-and-sewer-pipe-cleaners

BibTeX 
@misc{singulariki-refuse-and-recyclable-material-collectors-vs-septic-tank-servicers-and-sewer-pipe-cleaners,
  title  = {Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors vs Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners},
  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-septic-tank-servicers-and-sewer-pipe-cleaners}
}

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