How To Become A Disposal Worker: What It Is and Career Path

What is a disposal worker and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a disposal worker. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.03 an hour? That's $31,259 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 358,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreDisposal WorkerUS Average

Salary

2.4

Avg. Salary $31,259

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.2

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 2.03%

Asian 2.11%

Black or African American 18.52%

Hispanic or Latino 22.50%

Unknown 3.59%

White 51.25%

Gender

female 8.00%

male 92.00%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

8.2

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a disposal worker

Explore disposal worker education requirements

Most common disposal worker degrees

High School Diploma

40.0 %

Diploma

20.0 %

Associate

20.0 %

Start to develop specific disposal worker skills

Skills	Percentages
Hazardous Materials	100.00%

Complete relevant disposal worker training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New disposal workers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a disposal worker based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real disposal worker resumes.

Research disposal worker duties and responsibilities

Service, troubleshoot and repair HVAC, pumps, motors
Do preventive maintain, adhere to EHS procedures, policies and regulations.
Maintain knowledge of every residual material including asbestos and remove it from construction site for business and residential areas.
Maintain knowledge of every residual material including asbestos and remove it from construction site for business and residential areas.

Prepare your disposal worker resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your disposal worker resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a disposal worker resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable disposal worker resume templates

Build a professional disposal worker resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your disposal worker resume.