Izzy Lepone 07 October 2025

Waste collection staff reveal declining post-pandemic treatment

Waste collection staff reveal declining post-pandemic treatment image
© PeopleImages / Shutterstock.com.

Attitudes towards those working in the waste sector have deteriorated since the pandemic, research reveals.

An article in the Sociology journal reveals waste management workers have experienced more negative responses from the public since the end of Covid-19 lockdowns.

Based on 42 interviews with refuse collectors, litter pickers, graffiti removers and road sweepers working across councils in the capital and southeast England, researchers found that ‘the pandemic failed to improve reciprocal trust and respect’.

According to the authors of the article, Professor Natalia Slutskaya, Professor Annilee Game, Dr. Rachel Morgan, Dr. Izabela Delabre, and Professor Tim Newton, workers found that ‘the value of their service was enhanced by the harshening conditions’ of the pandemic, during which staff were classed as essential workers.

However, researchers state that the recognition and appreciation experienced by waste management workers during this time was not permanent.

‘Our respondents reported that their day-to-day exchanges with the public reverted to experiences of “being treated like dirt again” or conceived as lazy and less competent’, the study reads.

‘Once a stigma is attached to a certain job, it’s very, very difficult to clear that stigma’, a litter picker reported.

SIGN UP
For your free daily news bulletin
Highways jobs

Chief Executive

Ebbsfleet Development Corporation
up to £165,000
Ebbsfleet is one of the UK’s most ambitious regeneration projects, a 21st-century Garden City Ebbsfleet, Kent
Recuriter: Ebbsfleet Development Corporation

Virtual School Inclusion Support Officer

Essex County Council
£32768.0000 - £38550.0000 per annum
Virtual School Inclusion Support OfficerPermanent, Term Time£32,768 to £38,550 per annum (full time equivalent)Location
Recuriter: Essex County Council

Senior Business Development Officer

Essex County Council
£36341.0000 - £42754.0000 per annum
Senior Business Development Officer - Integrated Passenger Transport UnitFixed Term, Full Time£36,341 to £42,754 per annumLocation
Recuriter: Essex County Council

Adults Social Worker - Neighbourhood Team

Essex County Council
£37185 - £50081 per annum + Flexible Working, Hybrid Working
Interview dates
Recuriter: Essex County Council

Investment Marketing and Web Officer CDC

City Of Doncaster Council
Grade 8, £33,708 - £37,399
The postholder should be experienced in planning social media activity, refreshing web content and analysing their impact. Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Recuriter: City Of Doncaster Council
Linkedin Banner