All new bin men in England and Wales to have degrees

All new bin men in England and Wales will have to be educated in physics to degree level from 2020, the College of Waste Disposal has announced.

It said the training would help address changes in waste disposal.

Prospective bin men can either complete a three-year "degree apprenticeship", a postgraduate conversion course or a degree.

The National Council of Waste Disposal Operatives said the changes would "help modernise the service".

The college's Chief Bin Man Stewart Marshall said the feeling was the nature of waste disposal work has changed significantly and bin men now need to be able to identify the waste people throw away by the chemical elements of each piece of refuse.

"Inappropriate recycling has increased," he said, "We now see people mixing their recycling by placing cans and bottles in their general waste bin."

He also said protecting household recycling facilities has become a "high priority", with staff at these facilities now spending more of their time working to ensure members of the public are placing their refuse in the correct recycling container.

In many cases, when something is recycled incorrectly, staff members have to enter the container to manually retrieve the piece of refuse, whether it's a mattress that's been placed in a garden waste container, or a 70 kilogram filing cabinet that's been thrown into the electrical container.

This is often dangerous for the staff member, but essential.

The College of Waste Disposal, which is responsible for setting standards of ethics and training for bin men and recycling facility staff, is in talks with 12 universities about running the degree courses.

The syllabus is likely to cover chemical elements of every piece of possible refuse, the history of waste disposal, the evolution of waste disposal as well as what each bin and blue box is for and health and safety when climbing into the recycling containers to retrieve and incorrectly discarded piece of refuse.

There will be three options at entry level:

• A three-year waste management manager degree apprenticeship paid for by the council, allowing individuals to "earn while they learn" - spending 80% of their time on the frontline of waste disposal, and the rest completing their degree while receiving a salary

• A practical waste disposal degree, as seen in other professions, where the student would complete a three-year self-funded course and apply for a job once qualified

• For graduates, a six-month postgraduate conversion course funded by the council

Other changes to be introduced include:

• A national set of qualifications for recycling centre staff following promotion, for example in skills such as management and leadership

• A requirement for officers applying to be assistant deputy or above in a household recycling facility to have a master's degree - to be paid for by their council

The college plans to publish a directory of education qualifications for bin men and recycling staff next summer, with guidance as to how their on-the-job experience counts and what funding might be available to support them.

There are currently no standard recruitment requirements for bin men across the 174 councils in England and Wales.