Clean Harbors

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.^[1] 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.^[1] It also owns Safety-Kleen, the largest re-refiner and recycler of used oil in North America.^[1] In 2024, the company received 91% of its revenues in the United States and 9% of its revenues in Canada.^[1] 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%).^[1]

Clean Harbors, Inc.

Company type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: CLH S&P 400 component
Industry	Waste management
Founded	1980; 45 years ago (1980)
Founder	Alan McKim
Headquarters	Norwell, Massachusetts, U.S.
Number of locations	870
Area served	United States Canada
Key people	Alan McKim (chairperson) Michael L. Battles (co-CEO and co-president) Eric W. Gerstenberg (co-CEO and co-president) Eric J. Dugas (CFO)
Services	Environmental & Industrial
Revenue	$5.889 billion (2024)
Operating income	$670 million (2024)
Net income	$402 million (2024)
Total assets	$7.377 billion (2024)
Total equity	$2.573 billion (2024)
Owner	Alan McKim (4.8%)
Number of employees	25,232 (2024)
Subsidiaries	Safety-Kleen
Website	cleanharbors.com
Footnotes / references [1]

The company is ranked 586th on the Fortune 500.^[2]

History

Clean Harbors was founded in 1980 in Brockton, Massachusetts, by Alan McKim as a four-person tank cleaning business.^[3]

In November 1987, the company became a public company via an initial public offering.^[4]

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.^[5]

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.	[3]
2	1995	Kimball, Nebraska Incinerator Facility		Waste incinerator facility acquired from Amoco; first RCRA-certified incinerator.	[6]
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.	[3][7][8]
4	August 2006	Teris	$52.7 million	Incinerator and treatment, storage and disposal facilities; extended reach to California.	[9]
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		[10]
6	August 2009	Eveready	C$464 million	Services for the oil and gas industry; expanded into Canada.	[11]
7	June 2011	Peak Energy Services	C$$202 million	Oil and gas surface rentals for liquid, solid and sludge processing.	[12]
8	December 2012	Safety-Kleen	US$1.25 billion	Used oil recycling and re-refining, and parts washers.	[13]
9	April 2015	Thermo Fluids	$85 million	Recycles used oil, solvents and oil filters.	[14]
10	September 2016	Emerald Services		Oil and wastewater recycling services.	[15]
11	July 2017	Lonestar West	C$44 million	Daylighting and hydro excavation services.	[16]
12	October 2021	HydroChemPSC	$1.25 billion	Provider of industrial cleaning, specialty maintenance and utilities services; acquired from Littlejohn & Co.	[17]
13	May 2023	Thompson Industries	$110 million	Industrial service operations in the Southeastern United States.	[18]
14	March 2024	Hepaco	$400 million	Environmental and emergency response capabilities.	[19]

See also

• List of cleaning companies
• List of S&P 400 companies