A Day in My Life by John Curran, waste collection loader.I applied and succeeded in securing a job as a loader, as part of the waste collection crew based at Penrhos depot, near Llandysul.

As a loader, I’m one of the guys in the team who gets in and out of the waste lorry, collecting people’s waste.

Since starting the role, I’ve completed an NVQ in LGV.

The best bit of the job is being outside, to work in the beautiful countryside that we’re lucky to have in Ceredigion. Did you realise that the collection teams collect about 65 tonnes of waste every day? That’s the equivalent of 54 cars. It certainly keeps us as fit as a fiddle - no gym fees required!

The day begins in the muster room, where all the collection crew members meet to hear what routes we’ll be working on for the day and to collect the keys for the particular lorry we’ll using that day. Then, it’s time to head outside to carry out the vehicle checks with the driver. The loaders stock up with recycling bags and food waste liner bags ready for the run, and then with all being well with the lorry, we’re off.

When we arrive at the first call, the other loaders and myself climb out and that’s when the real work starts. Walking alongside the lorry as we go, any bags with yellow stickers are given a roll of clear bags and any bags containing non-acceptable materials inside are issued with a red sticker, highlighting the offending material. Replacement food liner bags are given for the food bins if needed.

After a hard day’s work and with a vehicle full of waste, we head off to the landfill, return to the depot, fuel up the lorry in preparedness for the next collection day, hand in the (job) tickets and keys and that’s it for the day.

To some, the way we collect the rubbish may seem a bit chaotic but everything is highly choreographed when it comes to how we work as a team. Each member of the crew knows exactly what to do and where to position themselves in relation to the lorry to be seen by the driver and safety cameras. Each team is part of a bigger team, who constantly communicate with each other should any team have problems. All the teams rally round to help each other. Our supervisor co-ordinates things remotely, ensuring all the routes are completed.

The public are pretty good and quite supportive of us usually. There will always be exceptions but that’s the case whatever you do. We are lucky at the Penrhos Depot, where I’m based, to have really excellent people working in the waste collections department – both on the ground and in the office. Minor things go wrong like bags breaking but that’s just part of the job.

We are fortunate that many people tell us face to face, while we’re out on our rounds, how they appreciate the hard work that our waste crews do. It brings a smile to our faces when residents come out to greet us and children wave when we collect the waste on their street. This support helps to keep morale up, knowing that people value that we’re doing our best to help keep the county clean.

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