Will AI replace recycling coordinators?

Not replace, but it is changing the job. About 30m of an 8-hour shift goes to tasks touched by robots. The other 7h 30m (94%) stays with people.

None of this job's tasks show regular AI use yet. That can mean the work is hands-on or in person, or simply that it rarely comes up in AI usage data.

For some tasks, yes. Robots have done 2 of this job's tasks in workplaces like this one, about 30m of a typical shift. 2 more tasks have only been done in factory setups built around the machine, so they stay with people here.

• Inspect physical condition of recycling or hazardous waste facility for compliance with safety, quality, and service standards. (18m a shift; e.g. Boston Dynamics Spot + Orbit (Cargill Amsterdam Multiseed), in use)
• Operate fork lifts, skid loaders, or trucks to move or store recyclable materials. (12m a shift; e.g. Seegrid Lift RS1 / Palion AMR fleet, in use)

7h 30m of a typical shift, or 94%, goes to tasks with no AI or robot evidence yet. No AI usage or robot deployment has shown up for these so far. The biggest:

• Supervise recycling technicians, community service workers, or other recycling operations employees or volunteers. (54m a shift)
• Oversee recycling pick-up or drop-off programs to ensure compliance with community ordinances. (48m a shift)
• Maintain logs of recycling materials received or shipped to processing companies. (30m a shift)
• Review customer requests for service to determine service needs and deploy appropriate resources to provide service. (30m a shift)
• Coordinate shipments of recycling materials with shipping brokers or processing companies. (24m a shift)

On Indeed, job postings in the Logistic Support sector are at 119% of their February 2020 level (all U.S. postings: 104%), up 5.1% from a year earlier, as of Oct 9, 2026. Across all U.S. postings, 7.3% now mention AI skills. Sector postings cover more than this one job and move for many reasons besides AI.

The median pay is about $62,840 a year ($30.21 an hour), 23% above the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Most people in this job earn between $43,350 and $96,100 a year; that range covers the middle 80%. Pay figures are from BLS, May 2025, and vary a lot by state and employer.

About 633,000 people in the U.S., roughly 0.41% of all workers (BLS, May 2025). That makes it the 64th largest of the 796 jobs on this site.

The most common requirement is a high school diploma: about 47% of people in the job said so in the official O*NET survey. O*NET rates the job at level 2 of 5 for preparation, which usually means: high school diploma, some training. Requirements vary by state and employer, especially for licensed work.

These come from the job's official skill ratings and from the tasks that AI and robots touch least today. Building them keeps you strong in the parts of the work that still need a person:

• Skills that matter more here than in most jobs: Management of Personnel Resources, Time Management, Coordination, Persuasion
• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 7h 30m of a typical shift
• Tools employers list: Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access

These use similar skills. Matches come from 109 official ratings of skills, knowledge and work activities, and each needs the same or less preparation unless the official list relates the jobs directly:

• First-Line Supervisors of Material-Moving Machine and Vehicle Operators (48m touched, $63k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 2 with robots in real deployments, 21 with no AI or robot evidence found. The minutes per task are estimates, not measured hours, and "no evidence" doesn't prove a task is safe.