How To Become A Recycling Collections Driver: What It Is and Career Path

What is a recycling collections driver and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a recycling collections driver. For example, did you know that they make an average of $15.42 an hour? That's $32,074 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 90,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreRecycling Collections DriverUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $32,074

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.77%

Asian 3.37%

Black or African American 12.69%

Hispanic or Latino 20.58%

Unknown 4.53%

White 58.06%

Gender

female 3.03%

male 96.97%

Age - 49

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 - 49

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.6

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

1.4

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a recycling collections driver

Explore recycling collections driver education requirements

Most common recycling collections driver degrees

High School Diploma

51.7 %

Bachelor's

24.1 %

Associate

13.8 %

Start to develop specific recycling collections driver skills

Skills	Percentages
CDL	75.98%
DOT Regulations	12.15%
Hoisting	11.87%

Complete relevant recycling collections driver training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New recycling collections drivers 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 recycling collections driver based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real recycling collections driver resumes.

Research recycling collections driver duties and responsibilities

Preform complete pre-trip inspections including driver check-in procedures upon vehicle return.
Return products to Comcast corporate locations

Prepare your recycling collections driver resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your recycling collections driver 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 recycling collections driver resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable recycling collections driver resume templates

Build a professional recycling collections driver 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 recycling collections driver resume.