Also called: Tire Shredder Operator, Crumb Rubber Plant Operator
Runs machines that shred old tires into chips and crumb rubber used for playgrounds, roads and fuel, pulling out the steel wire along the way.
Trucks dump piles of used tires into your yard. You feed them into a shredder that chews them into chunks, then into grinders that turn them into rubber crumbs. Magnets pull out steel wire, and you bag the crumb for a company that makes playground mats.
Estimated from recycling plant postings.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
High school diploma, about 0 years after high school. High school diploma; plants train operators.
Ways in: On-the-job training. Training cost: Get paid while you train.
Majors to look at: Industrial Maintenance (optional).
Growing about average. About 300 million tires are scrapped each year in the US.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Plants automate more steps, but operators still feed, clear and fix the machines.
Age 18+. One way to start: Apply at tire recycling plants for machine operator or laborer jobs; training provided
Classes: Shop CTE, Physics, Environmental science.
Official data: O*NET occupation 51-9199.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.