SOC 53-1042.01

    Recycling Coordinators

    Supervise curbside and drop-off recycling programs for municipal governments or private firms.

    Median pay
    $62,890
    Growth
    +3.0%
    As fast as average
    Openings a year
    54,900
    Typical education
    High school diploma

    Data verified Nov 2026 · CollegesRef 2026–27 edition

    Source: BLS 2025 wages · 2025–35 projections · figures for the broader BLS group "First-line supervisors of transportation and material moving workers, except aircraft cargo handling supervisors"

    See the pathway

    Annual pay range

    Lowest 10% earn less than
    $43,360
    Median
    $62,890
    Highest 10% earn more than
    $96,150
    National wages for all workers in this occupation. BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.

    623,640 people work in this occupation.

    What recycling coordinators do

    Job Zone 2: Some preparation

    Supervise curbside and drop-off recycling programs for municipal governments or private firms.

    Usually a high school diploma; some on-the-job training or experience.

    Interest profile

    Realistic (R)
    50 / 100
    Investigative (I)
    21 / 100
    Artistic (A)
    0 / 100
    Social (S)
    40 / 100
    Enterprising (E) · strongest
    63 / 100
    Conventional (C)
    60 / 100
    How strongly each interest area describes the work, from O*NET (scores rescaled to 0–100). The interest code lists the strongest areas in order.

    Interest code ECR. Compare it with yours

    What you'd do

    Making Decisions and Solving Problems
    92
    Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
    91
    Communicating with People Outside the Organization
    89
    Scheduling Work and Activities
    89
    Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work
    88
    Working with Computers
    85
    Documenting/Recording Information
    83
    Getting Information
    80
    Processing Information
    80
    Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships
    79
    Work activities rated by importance for this occupation, O*NET (0–100).

    Skills and strengths

    Skills

    • Speaking
    • Management of Personnel Resources
    • Active Listening
    • Coordination
    • Critical Thinking
    • Time Management
    • Monitoring
    • Reading Comprehension
    • Judgment and Decision Making
    • Social Perceptiveness

    Knowledge

    • Customer and Personal Service
    • Administration and Management
    • Administrative
    • Education and Training
    • Production and Processing
    • Mathematics
    • English Language
    • Public Safety and Security
    • Computers and Electronics
    • Personnel and Human Resources

    Abilities

    • Oral Comprehension
    • Oral Expression
    • Speech Clarity
    • Speech Recognition
    • Deductive Reasoning
    • Information Ordering
    • Inductive Reasoning
    • Near Vision
    • Problem Sensitivity
    • Written Comprehension

    Also called

    Agency Operator · Corporate Recycling Manager · Heavy Equipment Supervisor · Materials Manager · Recycle Coordinator · Recycle Supervisor · Recycling Center Operator · Recycling Coordinator · Recycling Crew Supervisor · Recycling Manager

    CareerOneStop

    Certifications, licenses and pay by state

    What recycling coordinators may need beyond a degree, where a license is required, and what the work pays in each state.

    Certifications

    Core certifications employers recognise for this work.

    Search all certifications on CareerOneStop

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 6, 2026.

    Your plan

    Build my pathway plan

    Courses, majors, colleges, scholarships and a timeline for this career, built from your profile.

    Related careers

    Careers with similar work, interests or skills.

    All careers

    Sources and attribution

    Every figure on this page comes from these public datasets. Missing values are shown as not reported, never estimated.

    O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. CollegesRef has modified all or some of this information.

    Data from CareerOneStop, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (Employment and Training Administration, with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development). Retrieved November 6, 2026.

    Page data updated November 6, 2026.