Recycling Officer

Also known as:

Waste Recycling Officer
Environmental Officer

Introduction

Recycling officers organise the recycling or re-use of a wide range of waste materials, such as paper and glass, within local communities. They also have an educational role, promoting recycling.

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Work Activities

Recycling officers organise the recycling of waste. They also promote recycling.

Recycling facilities include bottle, can, paper and textile banks. They are often in places that attract a lot of people and are easy to get to, for example car parks, supermarkets and housing estates. There are also recycling centres next to landfill sites.

Some local authorities ask people to sort their waste before it is collected. Recycling officers are responsible for making sure that people have suitable recycling containers. For example, they may be asked to put waste into colour coded bin liners or plastic boxes.

Recycling officers may be responsible for arranging contracts with companies that take away waste material for recycling. They may also work with the owners of landfill sites.

Recycling officers also have a very important educational role. This may involve giving talks to schoolchildren and other groups in the community that are interested in environmental issues. They may also arrange visits to recycling centres and promote recycling by producing leaflets and booklets.

Recycling officers aim to increase the number of recycling sites and the amount of material to be recycled. This involves a lot of planning. They carry out duties such as writing reports for council committees, keeping records and controlling budgets. They may also attend committee meetings.

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Personal Qualities and Skills

As a recycling officer you need to be aware of environmental issues. You need good spoken and written communication skills, and you should enjoy working with the public. You also need good organisational and planning skills and the ability to negotiate.

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Pay and Opportunities

The pay rates given below are approximate.

Recycling officers earn in the range of £17,500 - £22,000 a year, rising to around £27,000 - £34,000 a year.

Recycling officers work 35-37 hours a week with occasional night and weekend duties.

Most recycling officers work for local authorities. Many local authorities offer a flexitime work arrangement.

There are some opportunities within the private sector with waste disposal companies and large businesses that want to improve environmental standards. In these settings, however, the work may not only deal with recycling so a different job title may be used.

Entry to this work is fairly competitive as many people are interested in work that helps to preserve the environment.

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Adult Opportunities

It is now illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.

Relevant skills and abilities gained in work in local government, particularly in waste management or in pollution/effluent control, or for private waste disposal contractors, are useful.

Experience in the voluntary sector is also useful. This could be in conservation work, recycling schemes and local environmental projects.

If you don't have the qualifications needed to enter your chosen degree course, a college or university Access course could be the way in.

These courses are designed for people who have not followed the usual routes into higher education. No formal qualifications are usually needed, but you should check this with individual colleges.

• 19% of those in occupations such as recycling officer work part-time.
• 52% have flexible hours.
• 5% of employees work on a temporary basis.

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New Developments

Some people working in this occupation may be involved in the green jobs sector in areas such as waste management.