Clean Harbors’ 2025 supplement shows 1.9 million metric tons recycled in 2024, a 31% gain since 2019, plus PFAS destruction capability and record financials. | Zimmytws / Shutterstock
Clean Harbors published its 2025 Sustainability Supplement and reported that recycling volumes reached 1.9 million metric tons in 2024, clearing a 2030 target years ahead of schedule.
The document serves as a companion to the 2024 sustainability report and details results tied to climate, recycling and energy use across North American operations.
“In 2024, we recycled more materials than ever before,” Co-CEO Eric Gerstenberg said, linking the outcome to an Our Environment benchmark set from a 2019 baseline. The supplement attributes the early finish to expanded infrastructure and technology across used oil, solvents, e-scrap, batteries, scrap metals and other streams, with the 1.9 million metric tons representing a 31% increase since 2019 and an estimated diversion of more than 2.6 million cubic yards of landfill airspace.
The supplement calculates a Net Climate Benefit Factor of 2.3 for 2024, which compares avoided emissions from services to net Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions and indicates that avoided tons exceeded generated tons by more than two to one. Scope 1 covers a company’s direct emissions, such as fuel burned on site, while Scope 2 covers emissions from purchased electricity and other energy.
Clean Harbors reports nearly 4 million metric tons of greenhouse gases avoided in 2024, driven by used oil re-refining, solvent and materials recycling, and destruction of ozone-depleting substances. Targets include a Net Climate Benefit Factor of 3.0 by 2030 and a reduction in greenhouse gas intensity from 0.30 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per $1,000 of revenue in 2024 to 0.25.
The management of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) features prominently and the company outlines a “Total PFAS Solution” that integrates sampling, analysis, transport, remediation and destruction. The supplement states that testing has demonstrated 99.9999% destruction of PFAS at company facilities, a claim positioned as a long-term compliance and risk-reduction option as US and Canadian regulations evolve.
Operational volumes in 2024 underscore the scale of activity across customers in industry and government. The materials tally includes 253 million gallons of used oil collected and processed, nearly 16 million gallons of solvent recycled and more than 20,000 emergency response events managed. On-site solar arrays generated 2,508 megawatt hours, and the electricity mix at facilities included additional renewable content from the grid. The company and its Safety-Kleen subsidiary also managed significant wastewater flows and across used oil, solvents and wastewater the combined figure approached 400 million gallons.
The financial section shows record results, with 2024 revenue of $5.9 billion, adjusted EBITDA of $1.12 billion and free cash flow of $358 million. Management highlights capital spending on re-refining, recovery and destruction capacity as a growth driver for chemical, manufacturing and refining markets as well as public-sector contracts.
“We have built a business model where environmental responsibility and financial performance go hand in hand,” Co-CEO Mike Battles said, pointing to chemical recycling projects and PFAS destruction as examples of services adopted to meet environmental goals while supporting long-term value.
The supplement expands disclosure by aligning with the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and a Global Reporting Initiative content index. It details activity metrics such as customer counts, fleet size and facility types, including hazardous waste landfills, transfer and treatment locations, re-refining sites and high-temperature incinerators. Looking ahead to 2030, the company sets goals for a higher net climate benefit, reduced emissions intensity, additional recycling growth and increased renewable energy generation at its sites.
Employee safety is also mentioned in the document and remains part of the positive year-over-year narrative. Clean Harbors reports a Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) of 0.61 in 2024, adjusted for acquisitions, which the supplement identifies as the lowest in company history and part of a multiyear trend linked to automation, enhanced reporting and employee programs.
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