How To Become A Waste Management Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a waste management engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Andrea Welker Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a waste management engineer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $28.35 an hour? That's $58,966 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 1,800 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a waste management engineer?

Andrea Welker Ph.D.

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of Engineering Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Villanova University

Be open to new experiences. Find a good mentor. Become a valued employee. Always remember that you are designing something for someone.

ScoreWaste Management EngineerUS Average

Salary

4.6

Avg. Salary $58,966

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.5

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

10.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.44%

Asian 11.09%

Black or African American 3.80%

Hispanic or Latino 10.64%

Unknown 3.85%

White 70.18%

Gender

female 15.43%

male 84.57%

Age - 42

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 - 42

Stress level

6.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a waste management engineer

Explore waste management engineer education requirements

Most common waste management engineer degrees

High School Diploma

47.8 %

Bachelor's

22.9 %

Associate

10.1 %

Start to develop specific waste management engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
Waste Water	16.10%
EPA	15.25%
Safety Regulations	14.68%
Manage Waste Disposal	8.18%
Hazardous Materials	7.00%

Complete relevant waste management engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New waste management engineers 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 waste management engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real waste management engineer resumes.

Research waste management engineer duties and responsibilities

Manage the storage and disposal of CERCLA and RCRA hazardous and radioactive waste/materials.
Lead application security teams in defining role base access controls to automate user provisioning.
Execute RCRA compliance tasks including environmental audits and sampling, emergency response, and strategic enforcement.
Enforce and execute a DEA policy and procedure.

Apply for waste management engineer jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a waste management engineer job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do waste management engineers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Waste management engineer reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2020

Cons

Can be stressful at times