A waste collector, also known as a garbageman, garbage collector, trashman (in the US), binman or (rarely) dustman (in the UK), is a person employed by a public or private enterprise to collect and dispose of

municipal solid waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, ...

(refuse) and

recyclables Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

from residential, commercial, industrial or other collection sites for further processing and

waste disposal Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitoring ...

. Specialised

waste collection vehicles A garbage truck is a truck specially designed to collect municipal solid waste and transport it to a solid waste treatment facility, such as a landfill, recycling center or transfer station. In Australia they are commonly called rubbish truc ...

(also known as garbage trucks in the US, bin lorries in the UK) featuring an array of automated functions are often deployed to assist waste collectors in reducing collection and transport time and for protection from exposure. Waste and recycling pickup work is physically demanding and usually exposes workers to an

occupational hazard An occupational hazard is a hazard experienced in the workplace. This encompasses many types of hazards, including chemical hazards, biological hazards (biohazards), psychosocial hazards, and physical hazards. In the United States, the Nation ...

. The first known waste collectors were said to come from Britain in the 1350s, coinciding with the

Black Plague The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

and were called "rakers." A related occupation is that of a

sanitation worker A sanitation worker (or sanitary worker) is a person responsible for cleaning, maintaining, operating, or emptying the equipment or technology at any step of the sanitation chain.World Bank, ILO, WaterAid, and WHO (2019)Health, Safety and Dignity ...

who operates and maintains

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...

technology.World Bank, ILO, WaterAid, and WHO (2019)
Health, Safety and Dignity of Sanitation Workers: An Initial Assessment
World Bank, Washington, DC. Milan Naviglio ecological operators 24-11-21

Milan Naviglio ecological operators 24-11-21

Health and safety hazards

Statistics show that waste collection is one of the most dangerous jobs, at times more dangerous than police work, but consistently less dangerous than

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...

and ranch and farm work. On-the-job hazards include broken glass,

medical waste Biomedical waste or hospital waste is any kind of waste containing infectious (or potentially infectious) materials. It may also include waste associated with the generation of biomedical waste that visually appears to be of medical or laboratory ...

such as

syringe A syringe is a simple reciprocating pump consisting of a plunger (though in modern syringes, it is actually a piston) that fits tightly within a cylindrical tube called a barrel. The plunger can be linearly pulled and pushed along the inside ...

s, caustic chemicals, objects falling out of overloaded containers, diseases that may accompany solid waste,

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

dog attack A dog bite is a bite upon a person or other animal by a dog, including from a rabid dog. More than one successive bite is often called a dog attack, although dog attacks can include knock-downs and scratches. Though some dog bites do not result ...

s and

pests PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...

, inhaling dust, smoke and chemical fumes, severe weather, traffic accidents, and unpleasant smells that can make someone physically sick.

Society and culture

Regional names

Many

varieties of English Dialects are linguistic varieties that may differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling and grammar. For the classification of varieties of English only in terms of pronunciation, see regional accents of English. Overview Dialects can be defi ...

have a range of names for waste collectors, from formal job titles for municipal employees, to colloquial and regional terms.

People

Former waste collectors

Georges St-Pierre Georges St-Pierre (; born May 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor and former professional mixed martial artist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters in mixed martial arts (MMA) history. St-Pierre was a two-division champion in the Ult ...

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

and

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

Welterweight Champion Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

, (worked as a garbage man for 6 months).

Fictional waste collectors

*The films ''

Blood Feast ''Blood Feast'' is a 1963 American splatter film. It was composed, shot, and directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis, written by Allison Louise Downe from an idea by Lewis and David F. Freidman, and stars Mal Arnold, William Kerwin, Connie Mason, a ...

'', '' Scanners III: The Takeover'' and ''

Child's Play 3 ''Child's Play 3'' is a 1991 American slasher film and the third installment in the '' Child's Play'' film series. The film is written by Don Mancini and directed by Jack Bender. Brad Dourif once again reprised his role as Chucky from the previou ...

'' all feature minor characters being murdered with refuse trucks. *Lala Hagoromo from the 2019 anime ''

Star Twinkle PreCure is a Japanese magical girl anime series by Toei Animation. It is the sixteenth installment in the ''Pretty Cure'' franchise, and the last series released in the Heisei period. and the sixteenth installment of the franchise, featuring the four ...

'' collected trash for a living due to her poor skills assessment before becoming Cure Milky.''Star Twinkle PreCure'' episode 29

Health and safety hazards

Society and culture

Regional names

People

Former waste collectors

Fictional waste collectors

See also

Notes

References

Further reading