Anaerobic digestion plant operator
Also called effluent operator, biogas plant operator, plant process operator
Anaerobic digestion plant operators oversee and maintain the process of breaking down organic matter in the absence of oxygen, such as food waste, to produce biogas. They monitor the performance and are responsible for troubleshooting any issues might arise during the process, conducting regular inspections.
What you'd do
Chemical products plant and machine operators · ILO- Setting up, starting, controlling, adjusting and stopping machines and plant
- Monitoring reaction processes and transfers of products in conformity with safety procedures
- Monitoring meters, gauges and electronic instrumentation on one or more chemical or formulation units, such as mixers, kettles, blenders, dryers, tabletting, encapsulation, granulation and coating machines
- Measuring, weighing and loading chemical ingredients following formulation cards
- Making samples and performing routine chemical and physical tests of products and recording production data
- Cleaning and performing minor repairs to machines and plant
Will there be jobs?
Limited prospectsFewer jobs than in most work will need filling by 2035.
Solid: measured. Dashed: forecast.
What does it pay?
About averagePay depends a lot on the country: from about €1,000 a month (Bulgaria) to €5,500 (Denmark), before tax.
Pick a country at the top of the page to see typical pay there, for people under 30, and compared with all jobs.
Among plant and machine operators, and assemblers in the EU, women earn 21% less per hour than men. Plant and machine operators, and assemblers · Eurostat
What do I need to study?
Upper secondary or vocationalUpper secondary or vocational training is the usual route.
Pick a country at the top of the page to see where to study and the official course finders.
Will AI change it?
Very littleAI could help with only small parts of the tasks.
Average task score 0.24 on a scale from 0 (AI can't do it) to 1 (AI could do it fully).
See the score for each of the 6 tasks
Based on what AI could technically do when assessed in 2025. It is not a forecast for a future year, and not a forecast of job losses. Scores for chemical products plant and machine operators. Source: ILO (2025), adapted (credits).