Clean Harbors, Inc. (CLH) Business Profile

What it does

Clean Harbors provides environmental and industrial services across North America. It helps businesses and public agencies manage waste, clean industrial equipment and respond to spills and other environmental emergencies. It also collects used oil and turns it into products that can be sold again.

The company has Environmental Services and Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions segments. Environmental Services collects, transports, treats, recycles and disposes of hazardous and non-hazardous waste. Its facilities include incinerators, landfills, wastewater treatment plants and recycling centers. The segment also cleans and maintains industrial sites, provides parts-washing services and handles planned or emergency cleanup projects. Its PFAS services include testing, water filtration, site remediation and disposal.

Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions collects used oil and other automotive fluids. Its re-refineries process used oil into base oil and other products; the company also formulates and packages lubricants for sale. Customers include manufacturers, automotive businesses, industrial plants, distributors and government agencies.

Clean Harbors was founded in 1980 and is headquartered in Norwell, Massachusetts. Michael L. Battles and Eric W. Gerstenberg were co-chief executives in the second quarter of 2026. The company had 22,155 employees in FY2025.

How it makes money

Clean Harbors earns revenue by handling customers’ waste, performing services at customer sites and selling recycled oil products. Environmental Services revenue depends on the volume and type of waste it manages, the prices charged and demand for project work. Customers also pay for industrial cleaning and maintenance, parts-washer and vacuum services, and scheduled or emergency cleanup.

Service centers dispatch vehicles to collect waste on a schedule or on demand. Waste is delivered to permitted facilities, usually owned by Clean Harbors, for treatment, recycling or disposal. Some customers use the company’s on-site crews to manage waste and other environmental services within their facilities. Others enter stand-ready agreements for emergency response. A significant portion of revenue comes from previously served customers with recurring needs, although project and emergency work can vary.

Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions earns revenue from collecting used oil and other fluids and from selling base oil, blended oil and lubricants. The relationship between product prices and the revenue or costs associated with collecting used oil affects its results. Clean Harbors adjusts collection-service pricing to manage that exposure. It also offers customers a closed-loop service, collecting their used oil and selling lubricants back to them.

In the second quarter of 2026, supply disruptions contributed to higher prices for re-refined products. Clean Harbors reported that revenue increased in both SKSS and Environmental Services that quarter.

Customers and how it sells

Clean Harbors serves customers ranging from small businesses to large corporations and government agencies. Its customers operate in industries including manufacturing, chemicals, refining, automotive services, utilities, transportation and retail. It also works for municipalities collecting household hazardous waste. Buyers of its recycled oil products include fleet customers, distributors, manufacturers and industrial plants.

The company operates throughout North America, with service locations across the United States and Canada. Its facilities and vehicles allow it to collect waste from customers and move it through treatment, recycling or disposal. Industrial crews also work at customer sites, while emergency-response teams can be dispatched when spills or other incidents occur.

Some customer relationships span decades. On-site programs place company personnel and technology within customers’ operations, while stand-ready agreements arrange around-the-clock emergency response. Customers may also use a portal and other tools to obtain information about services and waste streams.

Clean Harbors has major waste-management facilities in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as a re-refinery in Ontario. Its headquarters are in Massachusetts.

Suppliers and costs

Clean Harbors uses the used oil it collects as feedstock for its re-refineries, alongside additives and some purchased used oil. It produces base oil, vacuum gas oil and lubricants from that stream. Its waste operations also use a fleet of vehicles and specialized equipment; the company uses third-party transporters and rail as well as its own vehicles.

Operating costs include the workforce, transportation, facility operations, insurance, regulatory compliance and maintenance of the disposal network. The company also makes capital investments to keep facilities compliant and to expand or improve capacity. It uses financial assurance for certain closure, post-closure and corrective-action obligations.

Oil-market prices affect both the value of SKSS products and the economics of collecting used oil. Clean Harbors manages collection pricing as part of its response to changes in those markets. In the second quarter of 2026, its selling, general and administrative expenses rose as a percentage of revenue, partly because of higher incentive compensation, insurance and claim-related costs.

Competitive position

Clean Harbors faces competition from local, regional, national and international companies across its service lines. No competitors are named in the available company material. The company competes for waste collection, treatment and disposal, industrial services, emergency response and used-oil recycling work.

Its network connects service locations, vehicles and disposal facilities. As of December 31, 2025, the company operated incinerators and commercial landfills, including landfills permitted for hazardous waste. Disposal facilities require capital, permits, regulatory approvals and ongoing compliance. Customers can also incur costs when changing disposal providers because they may need to audit and approve alternative sites.

Our reading: The disposal network and its permits are a substantial competitive barrier because replicating the facilities requires both capital and regulatory approvals. The network also lets Clean Harbors transport waste to its own outlets.

Our reading: Customer switching costs support recurring business, particularly where Clean Harbors has on-site personnel and approved disposal facilities, although those relationships do not eliminate competition. Its collection and re-refining capabilities also connect a waste service with products customers can purchase.

Growth opportunities

Clean Harbors seeks to grow by selling more services to existing customers, expanding its waste-handling network and acquiring businesses. It also looks to increase capacity through facility expansion, permit changes and improvements at existing sites. Its newer incinerator at Kimball, Nebraska, is expected to run at full capacity by the end of 2026.

The company offers PFAS services from testing through remediation and disposal. In the second quarter of 2026, a PFAS-related filtration project generated revenue. Clean Harbors also won a long-term disposal contract with a manufacturing customer expanding its U.S. operations. The agreement has options to expand in scope and extend its duration, and the company expects it to reach full capacity in 2030.

Clean Harbors is introducing an integrated offering for data centers, initially focused on construction-related services such as system flushing and water filtration. It plans additional equipment, tank and vehicle investment. It also sees opportunities to provide maintenance, waste removal and recycling as the market develops.

Clean Harbors completed the ES&H and EnviroServe acquisitions. The company also continues to pursue other selective acquisitions that can broaden its services and operating footprint.

Structural risks

• Environmental liability and safety: Handling hazardous waste exposes Clean Harbors to operational and safety risks and potential cleanup liability. A release can result in liability for the company as a generator, transporter, owner or operator. Natural disasters can also disrupt operations and financial performance.
• Permits and regulation: The company must maintain permits and comply with evolving environmental, health, safety and transportation rules. Permit challenges, fines or a lost or delayed license can affect operations and increase the cost of expanding facilities.
• Oil-price volatility: SKSS results depend on demand and pricing for its oil products and on the revenue or costs associated with used-oil collection. Oil-market changes and regulations affecting how used oil can be used can alter those economics.
• Industrial demand and execution: Environmental Services results can be affected by industrial production, customer activity, project demand and available disposal capacity. Acquisitions and large capital projects also carry execution risks.
• Debt and financial assurance: Debt payments and letter-of-credit fees use cash that could otherwise fund operations, investment or acquisitions. The company also requires insurance, surety bonds and other financial assurance for facilities and could be affected if it cannot obtain them at reasonable cost.

Bottom line

Our reading

Our reading: Clean Harbors combines recurring waste services and customer-site work with projects, emergency response and a commodity-exposed oil-recycling business. Its permitted facilities and integrated collection network support customer relationships, while oil prices, industrial activity and environmental liabilities can affect results. Planned capacity, acquisitions and new markets offer ways to grow, but they also require investment and execution.