Clean Harbors

Clean Harbors, Inc.
TypePublic
IndustryWaste management
Founded1980; 46 years ago (1980)
FounderAlan McKim
HeadquartersNorwell, Massachusetts, U.S.
Number of locations
870
Area served
United States
Canada
Key peopleAlan McKim (chairperson)
Michael L. Battles (co-CEO and co-president)
Eric W. Gerstenberg (co-CEO and co-president)
Eric J. Dugas (CFO)
ServicesEnvironmental & Industrial
RevenueIncrease US$6.03 billion (2025)
Decrease US$391 million (2025)
OwnerAlan McKim (4.8%)
Number of employees
25,232 (2024)
SubsidiariesSafety-Kleen
Websitecleanharbors.com
Footnotes

Clean Harbors, Inc., headquartered in Norwell, Massachusetts, is a provider of waste management and industrial services for commercial customers, specializing in the collection, transportation, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste, but also offering services for non-hazardous waste. The company has 870 operating locations in 630 properties in the U.S. and Canada including a network of over 100 waste disposal facilities such as incinerators, landfills (seven hazardous waste landfills and two non-hazardous waste landfills), treatment, storage and disposal facilities. It also owns Safety-Kleen, the largest re-refiner and recycler of used oil in North America. In 2024, the company received 91% of its revenues in the United States and 9% of its revenues in Canada. In 2024, the company's revenues primarily came from the following industries: chemical industry (15%), manufacturing (14%), refineries (13%), automotive industry (8%), utilities (6%), base and blended oils (5%), oil and gas industry (5%), transportation (4%), government (4%) and retail (3%).

The company is ranked 586th on the Fortune 500.

History

Clean Harbors was founded in 1980 in Brockton, Massachusetts, by Alan McKim as a four-person tank cleaning business.

In November 1987, the company became a public company via an initial public offering.

In 1984, the company removed 130,000 gallons of fuel oil from the tanker Eldia, which became the largest ship to have been beached off Cape Cod.

Acquisitions

# Date Company Price Description of Assets Ref(s).
1 1989 Chem Clear Aqueous waste treatment with facilities in Baltimore, Chicago and Cleveland; first major acquisition outside of New England.
2 1995 Kimball, Nebraska Incinerator Facility Waste incinerator facility acquired from Amoco; first RCRA-certified incinerator.
3 February 2002 Chemical Services Division of Safety-Kleen $46.3 million 55 service centers and 33 waste management facilities; expanded chemical and waste disposal services.
4 August 2006 Teris $52.7 million Incinerator and treatment, storage and disposal facilities; extended reach to California.
5 February 2008 Recycling facilities in Chicago and Hebron, Ohio from Safety-Kleen $12.5 million in cash and the assumption of $3 million in liabilities
6 August 2009 Eveready C$464 million Services for the oil and gas industry; expanded into Canada.
7 June 2011 Peak Energy Services C$$202 million Oil and gas surface rentals for liquid, solid and sludge processing.
8 December 2012 Safety-Kleen US$1.25 billion Used oil recycling and re-refining, and parts washers.
9 April 2015 Thermo Fluids $85 million Recycles used oil, solvents and oil filters.
10 September 2016 Emerald Services Oil and wastewater recycling services.
11 July 2017 Lonestar West C$44 million Daylighting and hydro excavation services.
12 October 2021 HydroChemPSC $1.25 billion Provider of industrial cleaning, specialty maintenance and utilities services; acquired from Littlejohn & Co.
13 May 2023 Thompson Industries $110 million Industrial service operations in the Southeastern United States.
14 March 2024 Hepaco $400 million Environmental and emergency response capabilities.
15 May 2024 Noble Oil Services Industrial waste and wastewater services.
16 May 2026 Terra Nova Solutions $225 million Used oil collection and vacuum gas oil re-refining.
17 August 2026 EnviroServe $470 million End-to-end waste management and waste storage capabilities.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Clean Harbors INC Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 2026-02-18. Retrieved 2026-08-31.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Clean Harbors, Inc. 2024 Form 10-K Annual Report". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 19, 2025.
  3. ↑ "Clean Harbors Company Profile". Fortune.
  4. 1 2 3 "Company History". Clean Harbors.
  5. ↑ RICHTER, PAUL (December 6, 1987). "INVESTMENT OUTLOOK : ASSESSING 1987 : WELCOME TO THE MARKET : 1987: the Best and Worst Year for Initial Public Offerings". Los Angeles Times.
  6. ↑ FRASER, DOUG (March 31, 2014). "Eldia 'seems like yesterday'". Cape Cod Times.
  7. ↑ Wallace, Jacob (February 15, 2024). "Backlog at Clean Harbors' Nebraska incinerator leads to $270K EPA fine". Industry Dive.
  8. ↑ "COMPANY NEWS; CLEAN HARBORS IS BUYING A SAFETY-KLEEN SERVICES UNIT". The New York Times. Reuters. February 26, 2002.
  9. ↑ "Favorite Stock: Clean Harbors". CNN. September 3, 2002. Archived from the original on September 6, 2002.
  10. ↑ "Clean Harbors Completes Acquisition Of Teris L.L.C." (Press release). SolidWaste.com. August 21, 2006.
  11. ↑ "Clean Harbors Acquires Recycling Sites for $15 Million". Waste Business Journal. February 27, 2008.
  12. ↑ Chesto, Jon (April 30, 2009). "Clean Harbors charts Canadian expansion with $387 million acquisition". The Patriot Ledger.
  13. ↑ "Clean Harbors completes acquisition of Peak Energy". The Patriot Ledger. June 13, 2011.
  14. ↑ "Clean Harbors completes deal with Safety-Kleen". Associated Press. December 29, 2012 – via Yahoo Finance.
  15. ↑ Wrona, Nicole (April 16, 2015). "Clean Harbors closes on Thermo Fluids acquisition". Industry Dive.
  16. ↑ "Cascadia Capital Advises Emerald Services, Inc. on its Acquisition by Clean Harbors, Inc". Cascadia Capital. September 14, 2016.
  17. ↑ Dooley, Conor; Dolphin, Michael (July 17, 2017). "WeirFoulds Represents Lonestar West in a $43 Million acquisition by Clean Harbors". WeirFoulds LLP.
  18. ↑ "Littlejohn & Co. Completes Sale of HydroChemPSC to Clean Harbors" (Press release). Littlejohn & Co. October 8, 2021.
  19. ↑ Quinn, Megan (May 5, 2023). "Clean Harbors says disposal demand and $110M Thompson Industries deal position it well for 2023". Industry Dive.
  20. ↑ "Clean Harbors Closes $400MM Acquisition of HEPACO". Hart Energy. March 25, 2024.
  21. ↑ "Safety-Kleen Acquires Noble Oil". Lubes'n'Greases. May 8, 2024.
  22. ↑ "Clean Harbors acquires Terra Nova Solutions for $225M". Waste Dive. May 14, 2026.
  23. ↑ "Clean Harbors buying EnviroServe from private equity for $470M". Waste Dive. August 12, 2026.