Clean Harbors retains profitability in Q2

Norwell, Massachusetts-based commercial and industrial waste services provider Clean Harbors Inc. has reported net income of approximately $127 million in this year’s second quarter, down 4.8 percent compared with the more than $133 million earned a year earlier.

“Our second-quarter results reflect the consistent profitable growth of our Environmental Services (ES) segment, where we experienced strong demand for our disposal assets, and a stabilization of our Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions (SKSS) segment, where our collection strategies yielded favorable results,” Clean Harbors co-CEO Mike Battles says.

Clear Harbors garnered $1.55 billion in revenue from April through June this year, which is flat compared with the same period of 2024.

“Despite substantial growth in the year-ago quarter, our ES segment still achieved 3 percent growth in revenue and 5 percent growth in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization [EBITDA],” Clean Harbors co-CEO Eric Gerstenberg says.

“Top-line growth in the segment was led by Safety-Kleen Environmental Services, which rose 9 percent through pricing and growth in its core offerings. [The] average incineration price rose 7 percent on a mix-adjusted basis, [and] field services and industrial services performed well in the quarter, improving margins year-over-year.”

According to Battles, regarding the Safety-Kleen business unit, “We gathered 64 million gallons of waste oil in the quarter, which enabled us to hit our production goals. We believe that our shift to higher charge-for-oil (CFO) pricing, which has continued since our strategic program rollout last November, positions us well for the back half of the year. We currently expect to achieve our annual targets for this business in 2025, while reducing the volatility we’ve seen in recent years.”

Looking ahead, Gerstenberg says, “We enter the back half of 2025 with considerable momentum across our core markets, backed by a promising North American economic outlook as reshoring continues. While tariff uncertainty has impacted some customers in the short term, we expect the tangible benefits of the recent tax bill and incentives to invest in American manufacturing to drive customer activity over the longer term.”

Battles adds, “We anticipate a strong second half of the year for the company based on numerous tailwinds that should drive both top- and bottom-line improvement from a year ago. With an encouraging market outlook, we are also continuing to execute on our pricing strategies, cost mitigation and operational efficiencies to drive further margin improvement.”