What the work involves, what it pays, and grounded tasks, skills, tools, and experience you can choose from.
Also called collector, garbage collector, recyclable materials collector and refuse collector.
Real figures for this work, and lines you can use in your own resume. Where they come from is at the foot of this page.
An example
Common skills that can help you remember what you used on the job.
Every line comes from the same public record as the rest of this page. The greyed parts are the ones only you can answer.
Refuse and Recyclable Material Collector
Refuse and recyclable material collector driving trucks to collect garbage and recycling from containers, inspecting vehicles for safety, and operating equipment to lift and dump bins into trucks
Where you worked
Yours will not say this. You choose what matches your experience, and every line remains yours to confirm or change.
Nothing to write from scratch
Real duties for this job, already written the way a resume reads. Inside Rung you choose the ones that were yours.
becomes
On your resume
These are written the way a resume line reads. Rung asks which ones are actually yours, keeps your own words, and never claims work you did not do.
Then it asks for one more thing
Make it stronger
A few lines could show more. Each one is asked, and answered by choosing.
The line
Inspected several trucks every day before starting routes to ensure safe operating conditions
Add how many trucks you inspected each shift
Pick one that fits
Adding it to the line…
The line
Refueled trucks and added necessary fluids to maintain optimal performance
Show what improved after you refueled the trucks
Pick one that fits
Adding it to the line…
Every ready answer is in plain words, never a figure. Nothing is invented to fill a gap.
The work itself
The public record of what this job is, in one paragraph.
Collect and dump refuse or recyclable materials from containers into truck. May drive truck.
What it pays
Annual pay across the United States. The middle figure is the median: half earn less than that, and half earn more.
| 25th percentile | $39,080 |
|---|---|
| Median | $49,690 |
| 75th percentile | $62,020 |
| State | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| AK | $36,030 | $45,740 | $71,840 |
| AL | $36,280 | $46,240 | $54,910 |
| AR | $29,320 | $35,640 | $41,420 |
| AZ | $34,860 | $46,910 | $60,010 |
| CA | $55,420 | $64,890 | $75,070 |
| CO | $46,770 | $60,310 | $64,410 |
| CT | $35,480 | $38,220 | $51,080 |
| DC | $45,740 | $55,490 | $63,710 |
| DE | $48,130 | $61,290 | $63,290 |
| FL | $39,400 | $47,820 | $58,090 |
| GA | $37,220 | $46,960 | $55,990 |
| HI | $39,150 | $56,270 | $64,080 |
| IA | $46,190 | $49,850 | $58,050 |
| ID | $46,350 | $49,880 | $55,270 |
| IL | $58,750 | $75,050 | $84,300 |
| IN | $49,840 | $58,900 | $61,210 |
| KS | $35,020 | $45,510 | $48,120 |
| KY | $34,710 | $43,100 | $48,870 |
| LA | $34,110 | $38,810 | $49,270 |
| MA | $45,040 | $50,310 | $62,360 |
| MD | $38,290 | $41,870 | $51,190 |
| ME | $37,170 | $43,360 | $48,780 |
| MI | $37,510 | $51,030 | $61,460 |
| MN | $52,030 | $62,570 | $65,980 |
| MO | $36,420 | $50,010 | $61,360 |
| MS | $35,530 | $39,170 | $48,100 |
| MT | $45,330 | $49,420 | $58,090 |
| NC | $34,650 | $44,670 | $49,030 |
| ND | $47,770 | $59,000 | $61,640 |
| NE | $39,450 | $49,390 | $54,140 |
| NH | $40,420 | $46,580 | $53,890 |
| NJ | $41,920 | $54,630 | $65,370 |
| NM | $41,870 | $47,660 | $50,140 |
| NV | $50,490 | $61,310 | $79,860 |
| NY | $47,020 | $64,950 | $86,310 |
| OH | $42,610 | $49,330 | $59,250 |
| OK | $36,300 | $43,060 | $48,900 |
| OR | $59,960 | $63,210 | $66,180 |
| PA | $37,440 | $48,240 | $61,960 |
| PR | $21,840 | $21,840 | $22,230 |
| RI | $47,790 | $55,970 | $59,970 |
| SC | $27,850 | $34,880 | $42,150 |
| SD | $29,620 | $32,950 | $37,820 |
| TN | $35,410 | $43,270 | $57,330 |
| TX | $35,880 | $46,330 | $50,040 |
| UT | $48,010 | $59,310 | $61,640 |
| VA | $34,230 | $46,530 | $57,430 |
| VT | $49,780 | $51,960 | $60,460 |
| WA | $61,700 | $74,620 | $80,750 |
| WI | $48,440 | $59,810 | $63,430 |
| WV | $29,430 | $35,840 | $43,460 |
| WY | $42,850 | $48,820 | $52,530 |
Other names
collector, garbage collector, recyclable materials collector, refuse collector, rubbish collector, scrap metal collector, solid waste collector, trash collector, waste collector, disposal man, disposal worker, dumpman.
front load trash truck driver, front loader residential driver, garbage collection sanitation engineer, garbage man, garbage person, garbage pick up man, garbage pick up worker, garbage worker, junkman, limb driver, recycle driver, recycle worker, recycler, recycling attendant, recycling collections driver, recycling specialist, refuse driver, residential recycle driver, roll off container truck driver, roll off driver, roll off truck driver, sanitation engineer, sanitation laborer, sanitation truck driver, sanitation worker, solid waste collection worker, solid waste driver, solid waste laborer, swamper, thrower, trash collection sanitation engineer, trash man, truck driver, waste man.
What you can already claim
Below are the tasks a Refuse and Recyclable Material Collector job is made of. Choose the ones you have really done. There is no wrong answer here, and you can change any of it later.
Which of these tasks have you actually done?
4 chosen. Rung never adds a task you did not choose.
Already yours: Gathering work condition information, Inspecting motor vehicles, Cleaning vehicles and components
4 of the 12 tasks this job is made of
| Median pay | $49,690 a year |
|---|
What you have not done yet. Loading materials, Climbing ladders or vehicles, Operating packing or material processing
Great news! Your skills can open up even more doors.
The tasks for Refuse and Recyclable Material Collector also qualify you for the jobs below. Creating a resume for one of these could help you land even more interviews.
Choose a job below that you would like to target next:
Already yours: Inspecting motor vehicles, Cleaning vehicles and components
2 of the 12 tasks this job is made of
| Median pay | $59,050 a year |
|---|
What you have not done yet. Providing transportation information, Driving passenger vehicles, Reading maps
Read about Transit and Intercity Bus DriverBuild a Transit and Intercity Bus Driver resume
Your resume, already started
Refuse and Recyclable Material Collector
Nothing here was invented. Every line is something you chose above, and it comes with you when you start.
Build a Refuse and Recyclable Material Collector resumeOne more job qualifies. The best paying come first.
Free resume help
Choose what matches your experience. Rung shapes your confirmed choices into a resume you control, saved on your own device.
A resume that is yours to keep
Your situation
Rung asks different questions depending on where you are. Choose the one that fits you.
Nearby work
Near this job. If one of these fits better, its page is the same as this one.
This page is about the occupation Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors. What this job involves and what it is made of come from O*NET 30.3, the US Department of Labor's occupation database, refreshed July 2026; Rung writes those records into the plain sentences you see. Pay comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS release for 2025. How Rung handles accuracy is on the accuracy page, and the full data credits are on the credits page.