On Friday morning, Noel Tucker 鈥� gloved, masked, and dressed in an apron and hard hat 鈥� attacked the refuse stream rolling by her on a fast-moving conveyor belt, pulling out plastic bags and loose plastic films, and tossing them into a metal bin by her side. She鈥檚 a sorter at San Francisco鈥檚 Recology recycling center. And while most of the city鈥檚 residents are hunkered down in their homes, keeping clear of the coronavirus that has infected more than 1 million people worldwide, thousands of waste sorters, haulers, mechanics and engineers are getting up every morning and leaving their homes 鈥� putting themselves at risk to keep California鈥檚 towns and cities clean.
鈥淭hese people are warriors,鈥� said Robert Reed, Recology鈥檚 spokesman, as he showed a reporter around the bustling plant 鈥� a site of determined activity in a city that largely feels and appears abandoned. Turner鈥檚 job, hazardous during normal times 鈥� according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is the nation鈥檚 fifth-most-dangerous occupation 鈥� now carries a new level of risk.
Seven vending machines near the entrance to the recycling plant hold protective gear, such as glasses, masks and gloves. Employees enter a code, and a spiral dispenser pushes the item forward and drops it down, where workers, such as Ben Carter, who demonstrated for a visitor, can retrieve it. Carter said he preferred vending machines with food but was happy to have the gear he needed to keep protected as he and colleagues process the 650 tons of waste San Franciscans send his way, every day.