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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, data for occupations common to the industry, and projections of occupational employment change.

Employment and Unemployment


Data series	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024	Nov. 2024
Employment (in thousands)
Employment, all employees (seasonally adjusted)	520.1	521.6	(p)523.2	(p)525.5
Employment, production and nonsupervisory employees	441.4	439.3	(p)438.6
Unemployment
Unemployment rate	0.0%	0.9%	2.7%	2.0%
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics, Current Population Survey

Employment by Occupation


Data series	Employment, 2023
Hazardous materials removal workers	38,450
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	28,180
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	88,680
Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners	15,980
Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer	76,450

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage 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	Jul. 2024	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024
Average hourly earnings	$35.46	$35.64	$35.76	(p)$35.43
Average weekly hours	42.0	41.5	41.7	(p)41.1
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings and Hours of Production and Nonsupervisory Employees


Data series	Jul. 2024	Aug. 2024	Sep. 2024	Oct. 2024
Average hourly earnings	$31.90	$31.86	$31.95	(p)$31.56
Average weekly hours	41.8	42.1	42.5	(p)41.3
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Current Employment Statistics)

Earnings by Occupation


Data series	Wages, 2023
	Hourly		Annual
	Median	Mean	Median	Mean
Hazardous materials removal workers	22.74	25.35	47,300	52,720
Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand	17.89	18.89	37,220	39,280
Refuse and recyclable material collectors	22.83	23.75	47,480	49,390
Septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners	22.22	23.17	46,220	48,190
Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer	24.74	26.12	51,460	54,330

(Source: Occupational Employment and Wage 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	2019	2020	2021	2022
Fatalities
Number of fatalities	85	73	72	74
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.


Data series	2023
Rate of injury and illness cases per 100 full-time workers
Total recordable cases	3.1
Cases involving days away from work, job restriction, or transfer	2.3
Cases involving days away from work	1.2
Cases involving days of job transfer or restriction	1.0
Blank cells indicate no data reported or data that do not meet publication criteria.

(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	3rd quarter 2023	4th quarter 2023	1st quarter 2024	2nd quarter 2024
Number of establishments
Private industry	35,780	36,183	(p)36,742	(p)37,066
Local government	1,144	1,141	(p)1,142	(p)1,146
State government	7	7	(p)7	(p)6
Federal government	18	19	(p)19	(p)19
Footnotes (p) Preliminary

(Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages)

Productivity

This section presents productivity and related data for the industry, presented as the percent change from the previous year. Measures of total factor productivity (TFP) compare growth in output to the growth in a combination of inputs that include labor, capital, energy, materials, and services. Measures of labor productivity, or output per hour, compare the growth in output to the growth in hours worked.


Data series	2020	2021	2022	2023
Total factor productivity (TFP)	-1.1	4.5	-0.1	-4.4
Output	-2.5	6.1	1.6	-1.1
Combined inputs	-1.5	1.5	1.7	3.4
Capital input	1.6	1.3	2.1	2.3
Labor input	-1.9	1.0	5.0	2.9
Labor productivity, output per hour	1.0	4.2	-3.2	-3.9

(Source: Productivity)

Data extracted on: December 10, 2024