Hazardous Waste Management Technicians

Hazardous waste management technicians are part of a team that identifies hazardous waste sites and remediates, or cleans up, any waste present. In many cases, they assist hazardous waste management specialists, who are more highly educated and tend to work on long-term planning and strategy. Technicians do on-site work like taking samples of contaminated soil or water; some work on emergency response teams that handle sites immediately after accidents involving hazardous waste. These technicians also do a lot of laboratory work, testing the samples they have taken and compiling and analyzing the results. There are about 50,300 hazardous materials removal workers (including technicians) employed in the United States.

Salary Range

$25,000 to $100,000

Minimum Education Level

Associate's Degree

Certification/License

Required

Outlook

Little Change or More Slowly than the Average

Personality Traits

Conventional

Hands On

Technical

Career Ladder

Project Manager or Consultant

Hazardous Waste Management Specialist or Incident Commander

Hazardous Waste Management Technician