The Task Exposure Indexv2026.Q3
Occupation · SOC 53-1042.01 · Job Zone 2

AI exposure: Recycling Coordinators

Supervise curbside and drop-off recycling programs for municipal governments or private firms.

Reading this score

computed

43.3% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Recycling Coordinators at the 78th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 2.6 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.

What holds the line here is context. Across this occupation's 23 tasks it averages 1.83 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work depends on knowledge the model cannot hold. Much of this job runs on things that were never written down: what this particular organisation does, what happened last week, what the person across the table actually meant. That context is the barrier, and it erodes as systems are given more access.

The most exposed thing this job does is Maintain logs of recycling materials received or shipped to processing companies, at 80.0%. The least is Inspect physical condition of recycling or hazardous waste facility for compliance with safety,..., at 6.7%. A gap of 73.3% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.

Within transportation and material moving occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 52 roles in the group is 24.2%, and only 1 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.

What would move this score. Of 23 tasks, 15 are currently banded exposed, 4 assisted and 4 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take systems being given deeper access to the organisation's own records and history, which is already happening. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.

Task by task

23 tasks, O*NET 31.0
TaskExposedAssistedUntouchedImportanceBand
Maintain logs of recycling materials received or shipped to processing companies.80.0%20.0%0.0%4.03exposed
Review customer requests for service to determine service needs and deploy appropriate resources to provide service.80.0%20.0%0.0%3.76exposed
Prepare bills of lading, statements of shipping records, or customer receipts related to recycling or hazardous material services.80.0%20.0%0.0%4.00exposed
Schedule movement of recycling materials into and out of storage areas.80.0%20.0%0.0%3.64exposed
Coordinate recycling collection schedules to optimize service and efficiency.80.0%20.0%0.0%3.51exposed
Identify or investigate new opportunities for materials to be collected and recycled.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.26exposed
Create or manage recycling operations budgets.50.0%25.0%25.0%4.02exposed
Oversee campaigns to promote recycling or waste reduction programs in communities or private companies.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.62exposed
Develop community or corporate recycling plans and goals to minimize waste and conform to resource constraints.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.36exposed
Prepare grant applications to fund recycling programs or program enhancements.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.31exposed
Implement grant-funded projects, monitoring and reporting progress in accordance with sponsoring agency requirements.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.22exposed
Design community solid and hazardous waste management programs.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.09exposed
Make presentations to educate the public on how to recycle or on the environmental advantages of recycling.45.0%30.0%25.0%3.21exposed
Oversee recycling pick-up or drop-off programs to ensure compliance with community ordinances.30.0%20.0%50.0%4.17exposed
Supervise recycling technicians, community service workers, or other recycling operations employees or volunteers.30.0%20.0%50.0%3.96exposed
Assign truck drivers or recycling technicians to routes.23.3%26.7%50.0%4.10assisted
Negotiate contracts with waste management or other firms.23.3%26.7%50.0%3.87assisted
Coordinate shipments of recycling materials with shipping brokers or processing companies.23.3%26.7%50.0%3.77assisted
Operate recycling processing equipment, such as sorters, balers, crushers, and granulators to sort and process materials.18.3%6.7%75.0%3.77untouched
Investigate violations of solid waste or recycling ordinances.13.3%36.7%50.0%3.25assisted
Operate fork lifts, skid loaders, or trucks to move or store recyclable materials.11.7%13.3%75.0%3.71untouched
Provide training to recycling technicians or community service workers on topics such as safety, solid waste processing, or general recycling operations.6.7%18.3%75.0%3.62untouched
Inspect physical condition of recycling or hazardous waste facility for compliance with safety, quality, and service standards.6.7%18.3%75.0%3.93untouched

Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.

Where the score comes from

judged

Every task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.

DimensionMeanScale
Capability2.610-4
Embodiment0.830-3
Presence0.980-3
Accountability0.960-3
Context1.830-3
Verification cost1.370-3

What this means in practice

Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.

Occupations either side of this one

The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.

Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.