HWRC and Plant Operative

Staffordshire County Council; Coseley; On-site; GBP 18,000 - 24,000; Full time

Job summary

Staffordshire County Council is seeking a reliable, safety-focused team player to join our Household Waste Recycling Centre team. In this hands-on role, you will help the public dispose of waste safely, support recycling and reuse, and ensure the site operates smoothly and responsibly.

If you enjoy working outdoors, providing great service, and making a positive impact on your community, we'd love to hear from you.

Qualifications

• Experience in waste, recycling, or similar operational environments.
• Experience using customer service skills in frontline service and dealing with people.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills to engage with public and colleagues.
• Ability to follow procedures accurately and work efficiently as part of a team.
• Physically capable of manual handling and operating equipment safely.
• Ability to work under own initiative.
• Hold a full UK driving licence; adaptable to outdoor work and varied hours.
• Demonstrate a positive, professional approach to sustainability.

Responsibilities

• Provide friendly, professional support to the public while promoting correct waste segregation.
• Encourage recycling and reuse through clear guidance and engagement with site users.
• Ensure waste handling complies with Environmental Permits, Planning Permission, and council procedures.
• Carry out site inspections, monitor container capacity, and coordinate haulage requirements.
• Maintain a clean, safe, and well organised site, including effective traffic management and supervision.
• Follow Health and Safety procedures, report incidents, monitor recyclable quality, complete documentation, process payments, and support contractors and haulage teams.

Skills

Waste operations

Customer service

Communication

Team player

Procedures compliance

Manual handling

Driving licence

Outdoor work

Sustainability mindset

Job description

Are you passionate about customer service and the environment?

We're looking for a reliable, safety focused team player to join our Household Waste Recycling Centre team. In this hands on role, you'll help the public dispose of waste safely, support recycling and reuse, and ensure the site operates smoothly and responsibly.

If you enjoy working outdoors, providing great service, and making a positive impact on your community, we'd love to hear from you.

Main Responsibilities

You'll:

• Provide friendly, professional support to the public while promoting correct waste segregation.
• Encourage recycling and reuse through clear guidance and engagement with site users.
• Ensure all waste handling complies with Environmental Permits, Planning Permission, and council procedures.
• Carry out site inspections, monitor container capacity, and coordinate haulage requirements.
• Maintain a clean, safe, and well organised site, including effective traffic management and supervision.
• Follow Health and Safety procedures, report incidents, monitor recyclable quality, complete documentation, process payments, and support contractors and haulage teams.

The Ideal Candidate

The minimum criteria that will be used to shortlist for this role will be:

• experience in waste, recycling, or similar operational environments.
• experience of utilising customer service skills in a frontline service and dealing with people
• have strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage effectively with the public and colleagues.
• be able to follow procedures accurately and work efficiently as part of a team.
• be physically capable of manual handling tasks and operating equipment safely.
• ability to work under own initiative
• hold a full UK driving licence, be adaptable to outdoor work and varied hours, and demonstrate a positive, professional approach to sustainability.

Ideally it would be useful for you to have basic IT skills for record keeping, with knowledge of waste segregation, Health and Safety practices, and Duty of Care, however training can be provided.

Interview dates are scheduled to take place week commencing 23rd November 2026

Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered.

Please note: The minimum essential criteria in the ideal section detailed above will be used if you are applying under one of our Interview Guarantee Schemes.

About Staffordshire County Council

We are no ordinary county council:

Our Values:

The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.

Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:

We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.

We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.

Our benefits:

We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work‑life balance.

In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire

Our recruitment process:

As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities

As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.