Definition: Environmental Technician Job Description

What are the missions of the Environmental Technician? What training to follow to exercise this profession? What are his outlets and his salary? The answers are provided to you by this environmental technician job sheet.

Environmental technician profession

The environment is one of the major challenges of our century and this directly impacts developing professions. Among these, we find that of Environmental Technician. Discover this profession in detail in order to check if it corresponds to your aspirations and your retraining objectives.

What is an Environmental Technician?

Also named environmental measurement technician, the environmental technician’s objective is to carry out control and measurement missions in the field of the environment or worker exposure to preserve the environment and human health. Its role is essential both for companies and for communities who are required to treat their waste, wastewater or sanitation networks.

Missions of the Environmental Technician

The profession of Environmental Technician is a multitasking profession linked mainly to the treatment of waste, emissions into the atmosphere and wastewater. His missions can be dealt with from a technical point of view as well as from a legal and administrative point of view and are very varied depending on where he works. We find functions common to all:

• Collection of data and samples (earth, water, air) in order to study the impact on the environment of the company for which he works;
• Inventory of installations, sites, factories, etc. and laboratory analyzes to verify compliance with current safety and environmental standards;
• Proposal of solutions to resolve the difficulties encountered in collaboration with the various entities of the company;
• Verification of the application of proposed measures and their results;
• Intervention as a consultant to help companies or communities to comply with the standards in force;
• Organization of colloquiums, conferences and other public awareness projects on the themes of safety and the environment.

Where does the Environmental Technician work

If the civil service is the first recruiter of Environmental Technician, the environmental issue opens the way for many private companies. Job offers are therefore more and more varied: the textile sector, construction, chemicals, food… factories having to meet more and more standards, the profession is recruiting more and more. Environmental technicians can also be recruited from wastewater treatment plants, incinerators, landfills or waste collection and urban cleaning companies (public and private).

Trends in the profession

Among the professions that recruit massively, that of environmental technician ranks well. It is increasingly sought after in order to meet strict standards applicable in both the public and private sectors. Each year, around a thousand jobs are filled. Mainly at licence/3 level.

Qualifications required to become an environmental technician

Guarantor of compliance with environmental standards, this profession requires great rigor, good analytical skills and methodology. The technician must also perform numerous samples and analyzes that he must then interpret in order to make the best decisions. Obliged to produce numerous reports, this professional must have good interpersonal and writing skills.

As the environmental sector is constantly evolving, the business requires keeping abreast of various developments.

The professional does not work alone and must therefore have a team spirit. In contact with many stakeholders such as elected officials of local communities or business leaders but also in charge of raising awareness among schools, associations, the population, manufacturers…, the technician must know how to demonstrate pedagogy and persuasion. Finally, this professional must know the tools and measuring instruments but also have skills in the regulatory and environmental field.

Training to become an environmental technician

Access to the profession is different if one works in the public or private sector although this profession is accessible through different training courses given that there is no single diploma.

To exercise in the public

Environmental technicians are a category B body. To access them, you must pass an external competition open to candidates holding a baccalaureate or an approved level IV diploma.

To practice in the private sector

Several solutions are available to you, accessible both in the context of initial training and in that of adult training, allowing easy professional retraining as a glacier.

CAP level

• CAP Cleanliness and hygiene agent
• CAP Waste management and urban cleanliness
• CAP Urban environmental cleanliness collection and recycling
• CAP Sanitation and special liquid waste collection agent

Baccalaureate standard

• ST2I graduate
• Bac pro Hygiene and environment
• Bac techno STAV

Licence level

• BTS Environmental services professions
• DUT Hygiene safety environment

Several other training courses provide useful qualifications and certificates for entering the world of work, such as courses in environmental management or sustainability management.

Possible evolutions of the environmental technician

For professionals working in the public service, the career of the environmental technician depends on the ranks he gains over the years.

In the private sector, he can progress to positions of project manager in a design office or operations manager.

Salary of an environmental technician

Like evolution, remuneration depends on public or private status. In the Civil Service, the salary will start at around 1600 $/month to increase up to 2700 $/month approximately at the end of his career.

In the private sector, wages vary between $ 1,600 to $ 2,300/month average.