Recycling and Reclamation Workers
Prepare and sort materials or products for recycling. Identify and remove hazardous substances. Dismantle components of products such as appliances.
$40,240 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
of the working time. Estimate.
- 1%
- 0%
- 99%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 1%. Today's estimate: 1%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 14 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operate automated refuse or manual recycling collection vehicles.Done daily by most who do it. | 20% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| 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.Done daily by most who do it. | 14% | 38 min17 min to 1.4 h | Stays with people | |
| Sort metals to separate high-grade metals, such as copper, brass, and aluminum, for recycling.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Operate processing equipment, such as fiber-sorters and grinders, to sort, crush, or grind recyclable materials.Done daily by most who do it. | 9% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Sort materials, such as metals, glass, wood, paper or plastics, into appropriate containers for recycling.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean recycling yard by sweeping, raking, picking up broken glass and loose paper debris, or moving barrels and bins.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Operate balers to compress recyclable materials into bundles or bales.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Collect recyclable materials from curbside for delivery to designated facilities.Done daily by most who do it. | 5% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean materials, such as metals, according to recycling requirements.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Deposit recoverable materials into chutes or place materials on conveyor belts.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 17 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| 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.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Extract chemicals from discarded appliances, such as air conditioners or refrigerators, using specialized machinery, such as refrigerant recovery equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 2% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Recycling Coordinators28% now, 76% by 2028
- Hazardous Materials Removal Workers3% now, 3% by 2028
- Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors6% now, 6% by 2028
- Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders2% now, 2% by 2028
- Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand11% now, 11% by 2028
- Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment3% now, 3% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.