skillfactor-pipeline/skills/solid-waste-operator/references/tasks.md

Tasks & work activities — solid waste operator

Source: O*NET 30.3, occupation 53-7062.04 (Recycling and Reclamation Workers).

Task statements

• [Core] Sort materials, such as metals, glass, wood, paper or plastics, into appropriate containers for recycling.
• [Core] Operate forklifts, pallet jacks, power lifts, or front-end loaders to load bales, bundles, or other heavy items onto trucks for shipping to smelters or other recycled materials processing facilities.
• [Core] Sort metals to separate high-grade metals, such as copper, brass, and aluminum, for recycling.
• [Core] Clean recycling yard by sweeping, raking, picking up broken glass and loose paper debris, or moving barrels and bins.
• [Core] Clean, inspect, or lubricate recyclable collection equipment or perform routine maintenance or minor repairs on recycling equipment, such as star gears, finger sorters, destoners, belts, and grinders.
• [Supplemental] Extract chemicals from discarded appliances, such as air conditioners or refrigerators, using specialized machinery, such as refrigerant recovery equipment.
• [Supplemental] Collect recyclable materials from curbside for delivery to designated facilities.
• [Supplemental] Deposit recoverable materials into chutes or place materials on conveyor belts.
• [Supplemental] Operate automated refuse or manual recycling collection vehicles.
• [Supplemental] Operate balers to compress recyclable materials into bundles or bales.
• [Supplemental] Operate processing equipment, such as fiber-sorters and grinders, to sort, crush, or grind recyclable materials.
• [Supplemental] Record logs of recycled materials or waste chemicals removed from products.
• [Supplemental] Clean materials, such as metals, according to recycling requirements.
• [Supplemental] Collect and sort recyclable construction materials, such as concrete, drywall, plastics, or wood, into containers.

Detailed work activities

• Clean materials to prepare them for production.
• Clean production equipment.
• Clean work areas.
• Decontaminate equipment or sites to remove hazardous or toxic substances.
• Load materials into production equipment.
• Lubricate production equipment.
• Operate forklifts or other loaders.
• Operate grinding equipment.
• Operate recycling equipment.
• Record operational or production data.
• Repair production equipment or tools.
• Sort recyclable materials.