Post job

Waste handling technician education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a waste handling technician. Waste handling technicians usually study criminal justice, fine arts, or business. 35% of waste handling technicians hold a associate degree, and 28% hold an bachelor's degree. We analyzed 94 real waste handling technician resumes to see exactly what waste handling technician education sections show.

The most common colleges for waste handling technicians are the Cazenovia College and the Cazenovia College.

There are also many online waste handling technician courses to help get the education required to be a waste handling technician.

What education do you need to become a waste handling technician?

What degree do you need to be a waste handling technician?

The most common degree for waste handling technicians is associate degree, with 35% of waste handling technicians earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are bachelor's degree degree at 28% and bachelor's degree degree at 21%.
  • Associate, 35%
  • Bachelor's, 28%
  • High School Diploma, 21%
  • Master's, 7%
  • Other Degrees, 9%

What should I major in to become a waste handling technician?

You should major in criminal justice to become a waste handling technician. 17% of waste handling technicians major in criminal justice. Other common majors for a waste handling technician include fine arts and business.

Most common colleges for waste handling technicians

Waste handling technicians often get their degrees at Cazenovia College, Capella University, and Cleveland Institute of Art. Here are the most common colleges for waste handling technicians in the US based on their resumes.
Waste handling technician common collegePercentages
Cazenovia College5.88%
Capella University5.88%
Cleveland Institute of Art5.88%
Sacred Heart University5.88%
Columbia Southern University5.88%

Best majors for waste handling technicians

Best colleges for waste handling technicians

The best colleges for waste handling technicians are Stanford University, Northwestern University, and University of Pennsylvania.

A waste handling technician with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for waste handling technicians. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become waste handling technicians.

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

4. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

5. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

6. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

7. SUNY Stony Brook

Stony Brook, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$9,625

Enrollment

17,407

8. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

9. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

10. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN • Private

In-state tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

20 best online courses for waste handling technicians

Advertising disclosure

1. Pharmacy Technician Fundamentals

coursera

In this foundational Pharmacy Technician Career Training Specialization, students will take four courses to master the fundamentals of a career in pharmacy. The first two courses teach how to communicate and engage professionally in any healthcare setting and the necessary knowledge of human anatomy and physiology required for any medical role. Next, students dive into two pharmacy-related courses - Pharmacy Technician Essentials and Pharmacy Dosages & Prescriptions Essentials - to round out...

2. Handling Imbalanced Data Classification Problems

coursera

In this 2-hour long project-based course on handling imbalanced data classification problems, you will learn to understand the business problem related we are trying to solve and and understand the dataset. You will also learn how to select best evaluation metric for imbalanced datasets and data resampling techniques like undersampling, oversampling and SMOTE before we use them for model building process. At the end of the course you will understand and learn how to implement ROC curve and...

3. Information Security Basics for IT Support Technicians

udemy
4.3
(300)

Learn the basics of information security and what you need to know to be compliant with data protection regulations...

4. Solid Waste Mangement

udemy
4.5
(398)

A primer on the best practices for managing solid waste...

5. Lean Management: Reduce waste and boost efficiency

udemy
4.4
(2,869)

Learn how to use the principles of lean management to optimize production, eliminate waste, and maximize customer value...

6. Become a Pharmacy Technician

udemy
4.7
(2,374)

A Video Study Guide for the Pharmacy Technician Certification Exam...

7. HVAC Psychrometry, Air Handling System and Duct Selection

udemy
4.5
(517)

Build your knowledge systematically, from building cooling load estimation, to sizing and selection of AHU and ductings...

8. Providing Trauma-Informed Care

udemy
4.7
(1,276)

Exploring psychological trauma and how to provide care and compassion to trauma survivors...

9. Data Entry Skills: A Complete Data Entry Course from Scratch

udemy
4.7
(533)

A Complete Guide to Data Entry Skills: Learn Data Entry Skills and become a Data Entry Pro & Get a Online Data Entry Job...

10. Eliminate waste by implementing 5S

udemy
4.5
(2,086)

Learn how to remove waste from your processes with real implementers...

11. Dealing With Angry Customers

udemy
4.3
(254)

Skills and Techniques for Handling Most Customer Situations...

12. Business Communication Skills: Handling Clients & Customers

udemy
4.4
(1,161)

Soft Skills Training Social Skills Business Etiquette Business English Customer Service Training...

13. Customer Service

udemy
4.6
(11,267)

How to Approach New Customers and Maintain Existing Ones...

14. Customer Service Foundation

udemy
4.5
(290)

An introductory course about understanding the foundations of Customer Service...

15. Customer Service Mastery: Delight Every Customer

udemy
4.7
(18,204)

Master Customer Service using this practical customer care course...

16. ISO/IEC 27002:2022. Information security controls

udemy
4.5
(770)

Learn about the comprehensive set of information security controls proposed by ISO/IEC 27002:2022...

17. Information Technology Essentials

udemy
4.4
(575)

Introduction to Information Technology and Information Systems...

18. [2023] Customer Service 2.0: Learn Digital Customer Service

udemy
4.5
(3,956)

Used by ChaseĀ®, IntelĀ®, & more! Learn soft skills, social media customer service, diagnosing user problems, & more...

19. Customer Service & Support For Customer Service Executives

udemy
4.5
(941)

Learn Customer Service Skills & Provide Excellent Customer Support, Customer Experience & How To Manage Upset Customers...

20. Customer Service, Customer Support, And Customer Experience

udemy
4.6
(2,666)

Customer service, customer support, and customer experience training. Loyal clients through world-class customer service...

Top 10 most affordable universities for waste handling technicians

The most affordable schools for waste handling technicians are University of Florida, california state university - bakersfield, and brooklyn college of the city university of new york.

If the best universities for waste handling technicians are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for waste handling technicians.

1. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

2. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

3. Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

Brooklyn, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,240

Cost of attendance

13,991

4. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

5. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

6. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,942

Cost of attendance

14,469

7. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

8. Florida International University

Miami, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,556

Cost of attendance

19,434

9. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,656

Cost of attendance

21,623

10. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for waste handling technicians

The hardest universities for waste handling technicians to get into are Stanford University, Northwestern University, and University of Pennsylvania.

Some great schools for waste handling technicians are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for waste handling technicians based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

4%

SAT average

1,497

2. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,508

3. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,492

4. Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN • Private

Admissions rate

10%

SAT average

1,514

5. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

6. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

7. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

Admissions rate

5%

SAT average

1,520

8. Yale University

New Haven, CT • Private

Admissions rate

6%

SAT average

1,517

9. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

10. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for waste handling technicians

The easiest schools for waste handling technicians to get into are Curry College, barry university, and felician university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a waste handling technician without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for waste handling technicians.

1. Curry College

Milton, MA • Private

Admissions rate

93%

SAT average

1,026

2. Barry University

Miami, FL • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,006

3. Felician University

Lodi, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

81%

SAT average

999

4. Notre Dame de Namur University

Belmont, CA • Private

Admissions rate

82%

SAT average

983

5. University of the Incarnate Word

San Antonio, TX • Private

Admissions rate

88%

SAT average

1,044

6. D'Youville College

Buffalo, NY • Private

Admissions rate

100%

SAT average

1,072

7. Saint Joseph's College of Maine

Standish, ME • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,069

8. Notre Dame College

Cleveland, OH • Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

994

9. Ursuline College

Pepper Pike, OH • Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

1,102

10. Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,031

Average waste handling technician salary by education level

According to our data, waste handling technicians with a Master's degree earn the highest average salary, at $56,820 annually. Waste handling technicians with a Associate degree earn an average annual salary of $50,155.
Waste handling technician education levelWaste handling technician salary
Master's Degree$56,820
High School Diploma or Less$45,316
Bachelor's Degree$47,647
Some College/ Associate Degree$50,155

Waste handling technician education FAQs

Search for waste handling technician jobs

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Browse life, physical, and social science jobs