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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 Energy recycling, recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability t ...
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 monitorin ...
. Specialised
waste collection vehicles (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 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 syste ...
technology.
[World Bank, ILO, WaterAid, and WHO (2019)]
Health, Safety and Dignity of Sanitation Workers: An Initial Assessment
World Bank, Washington, DC.
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 such as
syringes, caustic chemicals, objects falling out of overloaded containers, diseases that may accompany solid waste,
asbestos,
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, incorpo ...
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, ...
'', ''
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 previo ...
'' 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]
See also
*
Beach cleaner
A sand cleaning machine, beach cleaner, or (colloquially) sandboni is a vehicle that drags a raking or sifting device over beach sand to remove rubbish and other foreign matter. They are manually self-pulled vehicles on tracks or wheels or pull ...
*
Curbside collection
Kerbside collection or curbside collection is a service provided to households, typically in urban and suburban areas, of collecting and disposing of household waste and recyclables. It is usually accomplished by personnel using specially built ...
*
Fecal sludge management
Fecal sludge management (FSM) (or faecal sludge management in British English) is the storage, collection, transport, treatment and safe end use or disposal of fecal sludge. Together, the collection, transport, treatment and end use of fecal slud ...
*
Litter
Litter consists of waste products that have been discarded incorrectly, without consent, at an unsuitable location. Litter can also be used as a verb; to litter means to drop and leave objects, often man-made, such as aluminum cans, paper cups ...
*
Memphis sanitation strike
The Memphis sanitation strike began on February 12, 1968, in response to the deaths of sanitation workers Echol Cole and Robert Walker.Estes, S. (2000). `I AM A MAN A MAN?’: Race, Masculinity, and the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike. ''Labor ...
, USA, 1968
*
Waste management
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 monitorin ...
Notes
References
Further reading
*{{cite book , series=California Occupational Guide , number=460 , title=Mechanical{{sndSkilled Occupations: Refuse Collectors , url=http://www.calmis.cahwnet.gov/file/occguide/Garbage.PDF , publisher=State of California, Employment Development Department , year=2002 , access-date=20 November 2019 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060420040610/http://www.calmis.cahwnet.gov/file/occguide/Garbage.PDF , archive-date=20 April 2006 , url-status=dead
Cleaning and maintenance occupations