Waste and Recycling Tech II

Under general supervision of the Property & Environmental Resources (PER) Supervisor - Landfill, this position supports the mission of the Property and Environmental Resources Department by providing quality and efficient services to the public. The Waste and Recycling Technician II is responsible to perform a wide variety of duties and activities related to the operation and maintenance of Blue Earth County waste and recycling facilities and the management of waste materials. The Waste and Recycling Technician II performs semi-skilled and skilled labor; operates light, medium and heavy equipment; facilitates the collection, handling, categorizing, and bulking of waste and recyclable materials from the public, businesses, and commercial haulers; assists in maintaining the landfill in accordance with state law and county policy; provides daily inspection and maintenance of equipment; manages materials in accordance with county policies; and provides customer service, guidance, and information to users of these facilities. This position provides back-up to Waste and Recycling Technician III employees in managing waste by placing and compacting the waste and applying intermittent and intermediate cover. This position may perform work at the Ponderosa Landfill, the Household Hazardous Waste facility, or any other waste and recycling facility owned or operated by Blue Earth County.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

1. Provides customer service. Assist customers entering or using facilities. Identifies customer waste management needs and provide direction as needed. Identifies waste stream for acceptability or suitability. Manages traffic and direct customers to appropriate unloading area. Assists customers with unloading, according to facility policy.  
2. Maintains a knowledge and proficiency of various waste and recyclable material types, including household hazardous waste, general residential waste, and recyclable material. Applies appropriate management and handling procedures for each waste type according to County and facility policy.  Provides information to customers regarding waste management procedures as needed. Assists public with waste disposal questions related to the County’s waste and recycling facilities.  Maintains awareness of chemical hazards and safe material handling practices and knows emergency response procedures.
3. Processes received waste material according to County and facility policy. Provides skilled and semi-skilled labor to operate a variety of light, medium and heavy equipment, and hand tools to manage and process received waste and recyclable materials. Sorts, handles, and categorizes materials. Consolidates, labels, and stores materials.  Prepares materials for transport, including bulking into drums, packaging compatible materials in appropriate containers, or consolidating in designated storage areas.  Loads materials into trailers or other vehicles for transport. Sorts recyclables from other wastes and prepares for collection or transport including shredding or baling of some materials.  
4. Maintains waste and recycling facility structures, property, and grounds.  Uses a variety of tools and equipment to perform cleaning and organizing or repair of facility structures to clean floors, grates, loading dock and other fixtures.  Maintains facility grounds with hand tools or light, medium or heavy equipment, including litter pickup, fence mending, brush trimming or other property maintenance.  Assists with equipment maintenance.
5. Operates various landfill systems.  Provides skilled labor to operate or repair environmental controls or other landfill systems such as pulling leachate pumps, gas well balancing, cleaning out of storm pond and rip rap channels, silt fence management or litter fence maintenance.  
6. Assists in landfill workface operations.  Uses light, medium, or heavy equipment to support and assist landfill workface operations, such as hauling soil, directing traffic, moving equipment, placing portable fencing, applying alternative daily cover (ADC), or other activities related to the landfill workface.  
7. Provides earthwork at the landfill.  Uses medium and heavy equipment to assist in landfill earthwork projects, such as creating interior landfill roads, completing intermediate cover, cleaning out ditches or stormwater ponds, or replacing riprap in drainage ways.  Assists in maintaining slopes to reduce leachate and promote stormwater runoff as directed and in accordance with county policy.
8. Inspects landfill equipment. Performs safety checks before, during and after the operation of equipment. Performs daily inspections on equipment. Notifies Property and Environmental Resources Supervisor - Landfill when equipment needs additional maintenance or attention.
9. Functions as backup to Waste and Recycling Technician III to manage waste on workface. Using heavy landfill equipment, places, spreads, and compacts waste into place according to county policy.  Using on-board GPS, or other tools, follows approved fill plan provided and gives feedback on development of future fill plans.  
10. Uses alternative daily cover (ADC) or soil cover as appropriate, removing it as necessary to minimize landfill seeps.        
11. Promotes a diverse, culturally competent, and respectful workplace.
12. Engages positively with both internal and external customers. Communicates and interacts effectively and respectfully with colleagues, supervisors, representatives from other organizations, and the public.
13. Performs the physical and mental demands of the position.
14. Attends work during regularly scheduled hours.

ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS:

1. Maintains necessary data, records, and other pertinent information.
2. Maintains landfill equipment. Performs routine daily maintenance on equipment (e.g., replaces fluids, etc.) and uses complex tools to perform upkeep and facilitate maintenance of equipment (e.g., cleans out waste and debris from undercarriage, final drive, etc.).  Provides access to equipment when service vendors come to repair/maintain equipment.
3. Maintains a knowledge and proficiency of solid waste regulations and landfill best practices and policy.  Applies knowledge to operation of workface, recognizing unacceptable wastes, waste settlement areas, or other problem issues on the landfill workface and addressing according to policy, or communicating with others to develop a resolution.
4. Participates in professional staff development. Participates in training and education opportunities to maintain and improve proficiency. Attends and participates in professional organizations. Associates with employees and departments from other counties and states for collaboration. 
5. Performs other related functions as apparent or assigned.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: 

• High school diploma or GED.
• A minimum of eighteen (18) months of related landfill, construction, or maintenance experience.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: 

• Experience in road work, construction, solid waste, or recycling.
• Experience working with hazardous or other regulated materials.
• Experience using Personal Protective Equipment or other safety equipment.
• Experience working around or operating light, medium, and heavy equipment.
• Proficient in understanding and speaking languages other than English, such as Spanish, Somali, Chinese, Sudanese, and Arabic, among others.

CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT: 

• Must successfully complete background check.
• Must possess a valid driver’s license and the ability to drive within the State of Minnesota.
• Access to reliable transportation and be able to travel to and from locations which may not be accessible by public transportation for duties related to the position.
• Must comply with all federal and state laws and organizational and departmental policies and regulations. 
• Must obtain and maintain required certifications to perform the essential functions as required.
• Must adhere to data practices policies and standards regarding non-public data. Access to non-public data should be strictly limited to what is necessary to fulfill job responsibilities. While accessing these data, the employee should take reasonable steps to prevent unauthorized access by individuals without a work-related reason. Once the work-related purpose is complete, non-public data must be securely stored in accordance with county policies and Minnesota Statutes.

Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Night, weekend, holiday, and overtime hours may be necessary to meet departmental needs, special projects, and service needs and demands of the community served. Flexibility of scheduling is desired due to operational demands.

Salary : $51,917 - $72,738