| Important Core Job Duties (in order of importance) For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
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| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 91 (%) | Description: 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. |
| Importance: 81 (%) | Description: Clean recycling yard by sweeping, raking, picking up broken glass and loose paper debris, or moving barrels and bins. |
| Importance: 70 (%) | Description: Sort materials, such as metals, glass, wood, paper or plastics, into appropriate containers for recycling. |
| Importance: 70 (%) | Description: Sort metals to separate high-grade metals, such as copper, brass, and aluminum, for recycling. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: 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. |
Associate Degree Careers and Jobs
Explore Careers and Jobs Predominantly Filled by Those with an Associate's Degree or Less - All On One Page.
Sorted by median annual U.S. salary and including percentage of job holders with Associate's Degree or less.
An associate's degree can open doors to skilled technical, healthcare, and business support roles without the time commitment of a four-year degree. For people who want a faster, more affordable path into a stable career. Compare careers ranked by salary, review degree-holder and experience percentages, and access preparation resources for each role.
Here is a short Helper Video 
.
This page will take you through 4 steps, relative to an Associate's Degree, to (1) Select a career, (2) Find active job listings, (3) Prepare for the career you chose, and (4) Provide web resources specific to the career you chose.
Step 1: Select a Career: You will be presented with a listing of Associate's Degree careers. The list may be quite long. There are two ways you might like to use this list:
1) Filter - As you enter a word, you will filter (limit) the list of careers below
2) Browse the list (Don't Filter) - You can simply browse the list of careers. There may be many that you might never have considered. This may help you to discover careers that might be of interest.
Once you have identified a career of interest, simply click on it.
Step 2: Find a Job: After you have selected a career/job title above, you will see a form asking for your location. You will see several radio selection choices to utilize the job search site of your choice.
Step 3: Prepare For a Career: In this section you will gain access to detailed information to help you prepare for the career you selected. Information includes core and supplemental duties, general and specific work activities, knowledge required, essential and transferable skills required, day-in-the-life summaries, knowledge required, software skills required, preparation required, educational requirements, training and work experience required, local salary information, certifications, professional associations, current job listings for the job selected along with multiple similar job titles, and related careers (related to what they do, what they know, and what they're called).
Step 4: Career-Specific Resources (detailed and constantly updated): Continue to scroll down the page and you will find tabs that will provide detailed (updated) links to occupational information specific to the career you selected. This information includes:
Videos: Provides a listing of video links related to this career. A great way to get a quick overview of the occupation.
Resumes: Sources for resume materials and techniques. This can help to get you started.
Job Description: Sources that provide job descriptions, which are vital to resume and interview preparation.
Interviews: Provides links that can help you to prepare for and successfully complete the job interview.
Step by Step: Provides links to resources that can help to organize the career search process.
LinkedIn: One of the best professional social media sites that provides links, opportunities, and networking specifically for careers and career development.
Step 1 of 4: Select a Career
Leading Books About Associate Degree Jobs
What jobs can you get with an Associate's Degree? Scroll through the picklist (below). These are careers related to the Associate's Degree level, with at least 30% of job holders having an Associate's Degree. - 571 specific careers are listed, with matching jobs currently available. Select those careers that may be of interest - you will then get links to matching active job listings, and detailed resources to help you prepare.
You can use this form two ways:
1) Enter a Keyword - As you enter a keyword, you will filter (limit) the listing to those careers that contain the keyword entered
2) Browse the list (Don't enter a keyword) - You can simply browse the list of careers. There may be many that you might never have considered. This may help you to discover jobs that might be of interest.
OR - leave blank and scroll through the choices:
Select a Job Title - Sorted by Annual Salary -(scroll and Select) :
Legend: Career Title Link / (% having Associate's Degree or less) / (Median Annual U.S. Salary)
Step 2 of 4: Find a Job
Job Listings for: Recycling and Reclamation Workers.
Step 3 of 4: Prepare For a Career
Prepare for the "Recycling and Reclamation Workers" Career
The details below will provide a pathway to your specific job goal and help you to identify an appropriate career ladder.
Recycling and Reclamation Workers
Description: Prepare and sort materials or products for recycling. Identify and remove hazardous substances. Dismantle components of products such as appliances.
Please click on a section below to expand and see detailed occupational information related to "Recycling and Reclamation Workers":
Core Duties
Supplemental Duties
| Important Supplemental Job Duties (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
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| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 65 (%) | Description: Operate balers to compress recyclable materials into bundles or bales. |
| Importance: 62 (%) | Description: Operate processing equipment, such as fiber-sorters and grinders, to sort, crush, or grind recyclable materials. |
| Importance: 62 (%) | Description: Deposit recoverable materials into chutes or place materials on conveyor belts. |
| Importance: 50 (%) | Description: Operate automated refuse or manual recycling collection vehicles. |
| Importance: 35 (%) | Description: Record logs of recycled materials or waste chemicals removed from products. |
| Importance: 32 (%) | Description: Clean materials, such as metals, according to recycling requirements. |
| Importance: 30 (%) | Description: Extract chemicals from discarded appliances, such as air conditioners or refrigerators, using specialized machinery, such as refrigerant recovery equipment. |
| Importance: 27 (%) | Description: Collect recyclable materials from curbside for delivery to designated facilities. |
| Importance: 26 (%) | Description: Collect and sort recyclable construction materials, such as concrete, drywall, plastics, or wood, into containers. |
Work Activities
| Important General Work Activities (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
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| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 89 (%) | Description: Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates: Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person. |
| Importance: 83 (%) | Description: Controlling Machines and Processes: Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles). |
| Importance: 82 (%) | Description: Handling and Moving Objects: Using hands and arms in handling, installing, positioning, and moving materials, and manipulating things. |
| Importance: 81 (%) | Description: Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials: Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects. |
| Importance: 79 (%) | Description: Getting Information: Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. |
| Importance: 73 (%) | Description: Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment: Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft. |
| Importance: 72 (%) | Description: Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings: Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems. |
| Importance: 72 (%) | Description: Performing General Physical Activities: Performing general physical activities includes doing activities that require considerable use of your arms and legs and moving your whole body, such as climbing, lifting, balancing, walking, stooping, and handling materials. |
| Importance: 71 (%) | Description: Training and Teaching Others: Identifying the educational needs of others, developing formal educational or training programs or classes, and teaching or instructing others. |
| Importance: 70 (%) | Description: Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events: Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events. |
| Importance: 68 (%) | Description: Coordinating the Work and Activities of Others: Getting members of a group to work together to accomplish tasks. |
| Importance: 66 (%) | Description: Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People: Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people. |
| Importance: 66 (%) | Description: Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work: Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. |
| Importance: 65 (%) | Description: Making Decisions and Solving Problems: Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems. |
| Importance: 65 (%) | Description: Developing and Building Teams: Encouraging and building mutual trust, respect, and cooperation among team members. |
| Importance: 63 (%) | Description: Coaching and Developing Others: Identifying the developmental needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or otherwise helping others to improve their knowledge or skills. |
| Importance: 61 (%) | Description: Scheduling Work and Activities: Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others. |
| Importance: 61 (%) | Description: Processing Information: Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data. |
| Importance: 60 (%) | Description: Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates: Providing guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance. |
Specific Work Activities
| Important Specific Work Activities
How can you begin to build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. Specific Work Activities appear below: |
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| Clean materials to prepare them for production. | |
| Clean production equipment. | |
| Clean work areas. | |
| Decontaminate equipment or sites to remove hazardous or toxic substances. | |
| Load materials into production equipment. | |
| Lubricate production equipment. | |
| Operate forklifts or other loaders. | |
| Operate grinding equipment. | |
| Operate recycling equipment. | |
| Record operational or production data. | |
| Repair production equipment or tools. | |
| Sort recyclable materials. | |
Knowledge Required
| Knowledge Required (in order of importance)
For the Top 5 most important - How can you build experience and skill doing these? This will help now, to begin preparing for this type of occupation. |
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| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 76 (%) | Description: Production and Processing: Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods. |
| Importance: 69 (%) | Description: Mechanical: Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance. |
| Importance: 68 (%) | Description: Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources. |
| Importance: 68 (%) | Description: Public Safety and Security: Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions. |
| Importance: 66 (%) | Description: Education and Training: Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects. |
| Importance: 63 (%) | Description: Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. |
| Importance: 61 (%) | Description: English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar. |
| Importance: 59 (%) | Description: Personnel and Human Resources: Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems. |
Essential Skills
| Essential Skills (in order of importance)
These are the foundational skills most central to success in this occupation. For the Top 5 most important, how can you begin building experience and confidence using these skills now? |
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| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 52 (%) | Description: Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times. |
| Importance: 52 (%) | Description: Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action. |
Transferable Skills
| Transferable Skills (in order of importance)
These are skills that can transfer across occupations and industries. For the Top 5 most important, how can you strengthen these skills now so they support both this career and future career flexibility? |
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| Importance (%) | Description |
| Importance: 54 (%) | Description: Operation and Control: Controlling operations of equipment or systems. |
| Importance: 52 (%) | Description: Operations Monitoring: Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly. |
Day-in-the-Life Summaries
| Day-in-the-Life Summaries These summaries show the main types of activities you are likely to perform on a regular basis in this occupation. How can you imagine your typical workday — using these examples to see if this type of work fits you? |
| Activity: Clean tools, equipment, facilities, or work areas. |
| Activity: Clean workpieces, finished products, or other objects. |
| Activity: Load products, materials, or equipment for transportation or further processing. |
| Activity: Maintain operational records. |
| Activity: Maintain tools or equipment. |
| Activity: Operate cutting or grinding equipment. |
| Activity: Operate industrial processing or production equipment. |
| Activity: Operate lifting or moving equipment. |
| Activity: Repair tools or equipment. |
| Activity: Sort materials or products. |
Software Skills
|
Software Skills These are examples of software tools commonly used in this occupation, organized from most to least important for your career preparation. How can you start learning or practicing the highest-priority tools so that you feel confident using them on the job? |
| Emerging Tech Skills |
| Office suite software: |
| Microsoft Office software |
| Spreadsheet software: |
| Microsoft Excel |
| Word processing software: |
| Microsoft Word |
| General Software Tools |
| Calendar and scheduling software: |
| Work scheduling software |
Preparation Required
| Preparation Required - How much preparation is needed to obtain this type of job? |
| Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed |
| Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training. |
| Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not. |
| Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training. |
| These occupations involve following instructions and often involve using your knowledge and skills to help others. Examples include dishwashers, landscaping and groundskeeping workers, counter and rental clerks, dental laboratory technicians, and security guards. |
Education Required
| Education Required - by frequency of educational attainment This shows you details about the level of education most commonly held by workers in this occupation. How can you begin planning the educational pathway that will prepare you best for this type of work? |
|
| Frequency of Attainment (%) | Level of Education |
| Frequency of Attainment: 74.1 (%) | Level of Education: High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) |
| Frequency of Attainment: 14.6 (%) | Level of Education: Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) |
| Frequency of Attainment: 8.0 (%) | Level of Education: Doctoral Degree |
| Frequency of Attainment: 1.9 (%) | Level of Education: Less than a High School Diploma |
| Frequency of Attainment: 1.5 (%) | Level of Education: Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production) |
Training and Experience Required
| Training and Experience Required - by frequency of training and work experience attainment This section shows you how often different types of training and work experience are required for this occupation. How can you start gaining the kinds of experience and training that are most common for this type of work? |
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| Frequency of Attainment (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience |
| Frequency of Attainment: 29.7 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year |
| Frequency of Attainment: 26.2 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: None |
| Frequency of Attainment: 21.5 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months |
| Frequency of Attainment: 20.0 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months |
| Frequency of Attainment: 1.7 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 0.6 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years |
| Frequency of Attainment: 0.4 (%) | Level of Training and Work Experience: Up to and including 1 month |
Local Salary Information
Select a State (scroll and Select) :
Please select a State to see State and National Salaries
Certifications
| Certifications These are examples of certifications that may be important for this occupation. How can you begin exploring which certifications fit your goals and what steps you would need to take to earn them? |
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Certified Hazardous Materials Practitioner
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Professional Associations
| Professional Associations These associations connect people who work in this occupation or related fields. How can you start using these associations to learn more, build your network, or find mentoring opportunities? |
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Asphalt Recycling & Reclaiming Association (ARRA)
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Construction Materials Recycling Association (CMRA)
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Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. (ISRI)
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Municipal Waste Association (MWA)
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Secondary Materials and Recycled Textile Association (SMARTASN)
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Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA)
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Job Listings
Related Careers to Consider
Step 4 of 4: Career-Specific Resources (detailed and constantly updated)
This section contains detailed resources appropriate to "Recycling and Reclamation Workers". Explore these resources to start learning more. Links are constantly updated, so bookmark this page.
Videos
Here is a listing of videos related to this career. A great way to get a quick overview of the occupation.
Resumes
Here are resources that allow you to see example resumes for this occupation. It may be helpful to see examples from others who have this type of experience.
Job Description
Here are resources that provide job descriptions, which are vital for resume and interview preparation.
Interviews
There are many great resources that can help guide you through the interview process. These links provide help in preparing and performing an effective interview, specific to this occupation.
Step-by-Step
Here are links to help guide you, step-by-step, to become a(n): Recycling and Reclamation Workers
LinkedIn®
Here are links to various posts and groups from LinkedIn ® that relate to this occupation. Great way to start building professional contacts in the field that might be most appropriate for you.
Developed by Dr. Ralph Jagodka, Ed.D., Professor Emeritus of Business Management at Mt. San Antonio College and author of the Harvard Business Impact article "What to Do When Students Ask You for Career Advice." - Full bio. © 2026 About This Page
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