Recycling Coordinators
In short: today's best AI models could do about 52% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 82% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 17% of the time, stays with people.
Supervise curbside and drop-off recycling programs for municipal governments or private firms.
$62,890 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on21 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet12 h
- Stays with people7 h
Recycling Coordinators, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 21 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 12 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 7 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Create or manage recycling operations budgets (about 3 h); Coordinate recycling collection schedules to optimize service and efficiency (about 2 h); Oversee campaigns to promote recycling or waste reduction programs in communities or private companies (about 2 h).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 83%
- 11%
- 6%
Anthropic's data does not cover this job.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days 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, 23%. Today's estimate: 52%.
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.
Measured use over time
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 23 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.0089% to 0.0098% (released February and March 2025); 0.0023% to 0.0043% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.0089% | 544 of 708 | 2 of 23 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0098% | 510 of 703 | 4 of 23 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0023% | 620 of 655 | 1 of 23 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.002% | 646 of 672 | 1 of 23 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.0043% | 586 of 677 | 1 of 23 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 23 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 23 |
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 13% of this job's working time as physical work. For 13% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 6% in a purpose-built cell, 6% in a structured facility. 0.19 of 3, the 445th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 88%
- In a purpose-built cell 6%
- In a structured facility 6%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 23 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Develop community or corporate recycling plans and goals to minimize waste and conform to resource constraints.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 19% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 1.3 work weeks | 24%Half by May 2027 | |
| Create or manage recycling operations budgets.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | 55%Half by now | |
| Oversee campaigns to promote recycling or waste reduction programs in communities or private companies.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 11% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | 55%Half by now | |
| Supervise recycling technicians, community service workers, or other recycling operations employees or volunteers.Done daily by most who do it. | 9% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Identify or investigate new opportunities for materials to be collected and recycled.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 6% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 1.7 work days | 84%Half by now | |
| Coordinate recycling collection schedules to optimize service and efficiency.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 h50 min to 4.2 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Design community solid and hazardous waste management programs.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 3.3 work days6.7 h to 2.5 work weeks | 9%Half by Dec 2027 | |
| Prepare grant applications to fund recycling programs or program enhancements.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 1.7 work days5 h to 1 work week | 36%Half by Jan 2027 | |
| Assign truck drivers or recycling technicians to routes.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 33 min13 min to 1.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Review customer requests for service to determine service needs and deploy appropriate resources to provide service.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Oversee recycling pick-up or drop-off programs to ensure compliance with community ordinances.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 2.5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Make presentations to educate the public on how to recycle or on the environmental advantages of recycling.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 2.5 h50 min to 5 h | 99%Half by now |
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 and Reclamation Workers1% now, 1% by 2028
- First-Line Supervisors of Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators45% now, 45% by 2028
- First-Line Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers, Hand33% now, 34% by 2028
- First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers47% now, 57% by 2028
- Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors5% now, 5% by 2028
- First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers48% now, 54% 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.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Recycling Coordinators is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 52% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 82% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (75% to 83% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Recycling Coordinators come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Create or manage recycling operations budgets (55% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Coordinate recycling collection schedules to optimize service and efficiency (100% of the task's time now); and Oversee campaigns to promote recycling or waste reduction programs in communities or private companies (55% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028).
- Which tasks of Recycling Coordinators stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Supervise recycling technicians, community service workers, or other recycling operations employees or volunteers; Inspect physical condition of recycling or hazardous waste facility for compliance with safety, quality, and service standards; and Operate fork lifts, skid loaders, or trucks to move or store recyclable materials. Together such tasks are about 17% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Recycling Coordinators?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Recycling Coordinators?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 13% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 13% of the working time, 6% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.19 of 3. One example: Boston Dynamics Spot + Orbit (Cargill Amsterdam Multiseed) for "inspect physical condition of recycling or hazardous waste facility for compliance with safety, quality, and service standards". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 23 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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