Waste Management and Remediation Services: NAICS 562

About the Waste Management and Remediation Services subsector

The waste management and remediation services subsector is part of the administrative and support and waste management and remediation services sector.

Industries in the Waste Management and Remediation Services subsector group establishments engaged in the collection, treatment, and disposal of waste materials. This includes establishments engaged in local hauling of waste materials; operating materials recovery facilities (i.e., those that sort recyclable materials from the trash stream); providing remediation services (i.e., those that provide for the cleanup of contaminated buildings, mine sites, soil, or ground water); and providing septic pumping and other miscellaneous waste management services. There are three industry groups within the subsector that separate these activities into waste collection, waste treatment and disposal, and remediation and other waste management.

North American Industry Classification System

The waste management and remediation services subsector consists of these industry groups:

  • Waste Collection: NAICS 5621
  • Waste Treatment and Disposal: NAICS 5622
  • Remediation and Other Waste Management Services: NAICS 5629

Workforce Statistics

This section provides information relating to employment and unemployment in waste management and remediation services. While most data are obtained from employer or establishment surveys, information on industry unemployment comes from a national survey of households. The following tables present an overview of the industry including the number of jobs, the unemployment rate of those previously employed in the industry, mass layoffs, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment, Unemployment, and Layoffs

Data series Back
data
Oct.
2009
Nov.
2009
Dec.
2009
Jan.
2010

Employment (in thousands)

 

Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)

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352.2 350.8 (P) 348.7 (P) 347.9

Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees

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303.9 300.9 (P) 296.1  

Unemployment

 

Unemployment rate

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7.3% 10.2% 9.4% 9.8%

Layoffs

 

Mass layoff events

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- 3 7  

Initial claimants for unemployment benefits

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- 158 536  

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey, Mass Layoff Statistics)

Extended Mass Layoffs

Data series Back
data
4th quarter
2008
1st quarter
2009
2nd quarter
2009
3rd quarter
2009

Extended mass layoff events

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5 4 (P) 5 (P) 4

Separations

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457 283 (P) 496 (P) 321

Initial claimants

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587 637 (P) 596 (P) 435

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Mass Layoff Statistics)

Employment by Occupation

Data series Employment,
2008

Hazardous materials removal workers

33,680

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

17,600

Refuse and recyclable material collectors

72,590

Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners

12,830

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

45,400

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Projections

For projected (future) employment estimates, see the National Employment Matrix, which includes employment estimates by industry and occupation for waste management and remediation services.

(Source: Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Projections)

Earnings and Hours

This section presents data on employee earnings and weekly hours. The latest industry averages of hourly earnings and weekly hours are shown. In addition, recent hourly and annual earnings are shown for occupations commonly found in waste management and remediation services.

Earnings and Hours of All Employees

Data series Back
data
Sep.
2009
Oct.
2009
Nov.
2009
Dec.
2009

Average hourly earnings

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$21.74 $21.40 $21.71 (P) $22.13

Average weekly hours

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41.5 41.1 41.2 (P) 40.7

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees

Data series Back
data
Sep.
2009
Oct.
2009
Nov.
2009
Dec.
2009

Average hourly earnings

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$19.28 $19.14 $19.27 (P) $19.13

Average weekly hours

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41.7 41.7 41.6 (P) 41.1

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation

Data series Wages, 2008
Hourly Annual
Median Mean Median Mean

Hazardous materials removal workers

$18.08 $19.62 $37,600 $40,800

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

$10.76 $11.53 $22,380 $23,980

Refuse and recyclable material collectors

$15.44 $15.96 $32,120 $33,190

Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners

$14.93 $16.04 $31,060 $33,370

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

$16.45 $17.61 $34,220 $36,630

(Source: Occupational Employment Statistics)

Work-related Fatalities, Injuries, and Illnesses

This section presents data for the industry on the number of workplace fatalities and the rates of workplace injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers in waste management and remediation services. An injury or illness is considered to be work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition or significantly aggravated a pre-existing condition.

Data series 2005 2006 2007 2008

Fatalities

 

Number of fatalities

92 88 80 (P) 89

Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers

 

Total recordable cases

7.1 6.5 6.4 5.5

Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer

4.7 3.9 4.1 3.2

Cases involving days away from work

2.7 2.5 2.4 2.0

Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction

2.0 1.4 1.7 1.2

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities)

Workplace Trends

This section presents data on the number of establishments in waste management and remediation services.

Establishments

Data series Back
data
3rd quarter
2008
4th quarter
2008
1st quarter
2009
2nd quarter
2009

Number of establishments

 

Private industry

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23,973 23,999 (P) 23,937 (P) 24,023

Local government

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1,163 1,159 (P) 1,155 (P) 1,159

State government

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4 4 (P) 4 (P) 4

Federal government

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15 15 (P) 15 (P) 15

Footnotes
(P) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Other BLS Resources

Career Guide to Industries

To learn about careers from an industry perspective, see the Career Guide to Industries.

 

Data extracted on: February 09, 2010