AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 53-7062.04
Will AI replace Recycling and Reclamation Workers?
Recycling and Reclamation Workers: AI can already handle 5 of 14 tasks; most of the work is hands-on, and the part AI can address mostly needs an efficient-tier model.
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Every task, scored
The 14 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Recycling and Reclamation Workers, from most to least exposed. 5 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collect and sort recyclable construction materials, such as concrete, drywall, plastics, or wood, into containers. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Sort materials, such as metals, glass, wood, paper or plastics, into appropriate containers for recycling. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Sort metals to separate high-grade metals, such as copper, brass, and aluminum, for recycling. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Operate processing equipment, such as fiber-sorters and grinders, to sort, crush, or grind recyclable materials. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| 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. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Collect recyclable materials from curbside for delivery to designated facilities. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Extract chemicals from discarded appliances, such as air conditioners or refrigerators, using specialized machinery, such as refrigerant recovery equipment. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Deposit recoverable materials into chutes or place materials on conveyor belts. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Clean recycling yard by sweeping, raking, picking up broken glass and loose paper debris, or moving barrels and bins. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Operate balers to compress recyclable materials into bundles or bales. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Clean materials, such as metals, according to recycling requirements. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Record logs of recycled materials or waste chemicals removed from products. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Operate automated refuse or manual recycling collection vehicles. | Estimated | No tier | |
| 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. | Estimated | No tier |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 0 of 14 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 14 of 14. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.
The model tier this role needs
An efficient-tier model or lower covers 43% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 43% of the work is something AI can address at some tier, and 58% is hands-on.
Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.
Wages, employment and outlook
- US employment
- 2,950,280
- Median annual wage
- $40,240
- Middle half of earners
- $36,090 to $46,920
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +1.5%
Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034. BLS publishes these figures by SOC code, so O*NET occupations that share a SOC code show the same figures.
Adjacent roles
The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.
- Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors 74% skill overlap, about 9 months to move Exposure15
- Recycling Coordinators 72% skill overlap, about 10 months to move Exposure28
- Hazardous Materials Removal Workers 66% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure21
- Recreation Workers 57% skill overlap, about 15 months to move Exposure59
- Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers 56% skill overlap, about 16 months to move Exposure36
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Recycling and Reclamation Workers and AI
Will AI replace Recycling and Reclamation Workers?
AI already handles 5 of the 14 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 44 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears. BLS projects employment to change by +1.5% from 2024 to 2034.
What is the AI exposure of Recycling and Reclamation Workers?
44 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 0 of the 14 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 14 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Recycling and Reclamation Workers tasks can AI already do?
The tasks with the highest exposure are: Collect and sort recyclable construction materials, such as concrete, drywall, plastics, or wood, into containers; Sort materials, such as metals, glass, wood, paper or plastics, into appropriate containers for recycling; Sort metals to separate high-grade metals, such as copper, brass, and aluminum, for recycling. They are three of the 5 tasks that reach 60 or more.
What AI model tier does this role need?
An efficient-tier model or lower covers 43% of the role's importance-weighted task work, and 58% is hands-on work that no model tier covers. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.
How many people work as Recycling and Reclamation Workers, and what do they earn?
2,950,280 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $40,240 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +1.5% from 2024 to 2034.
How to cite
Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.
JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Recycling and Reclamation Workers. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/recycling-and-reclamation-workers
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