Clean Harbors reports growth in Q4 and full-year 2025

Clean Harbors Inc., a Norwell, Massachusetts-based provider of environmental and industrial services throughout North America, has announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ending Dec. 31, 2025.   

The company reported $1.5 billion in fourth-quarter revenue compared with $1.43 billion during the same period in 2024. Income from operations grew 16 percent to $158.4 million, up from $137 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2024. 

Net income for the quarter was $86.6 million, or $1.62 per diluted share, compared with $84 million, or $1.55 per diluted share, for the same period in 2024. 

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 8 percent to $278.7 million from $257.2 million for the same period in 2024. 

“We concluded 2025 with strong fourth-quarter results, including higher profitability in both of our operating segments,” Clean Harbors co-CEO Eric Gerstenberg, says. “Our performance was led by our environmental services (ES) segment, where segment adjusted EBITDA margin expanded year over year for the 15th consecutive quarter.” 

Gerstenberg says this reflects the diversity of the company’s end markets, as it has continued to gain volumes against the industrial backdrop of the past several years. The company believes these results demonstrate its consistency in executing pricing initiatives, cost management plans and network efficiencies. 

Full-year earnings 

Revenues for 2025 increased 2 percent to $6.03 billion, compared with $5.89 billion in 2024. Income from operations increased to $673.4 million, compared with $670.2 million in 2024. 

Net income was $391.0 million, or $7.28 per diluted share, compared with net income of $402.3 million, or $7.42 per diluted share in 2024. 

Adjusted EBITDA grew 5 percent to $1.17 billion from $1.12 billion in 2024. The company generated adjusted free cash flow of $509.3 million in 2025, compared with $357.9 million the year prior. Clean Harbors says the increase in adjusted free cash flow is attributable to higher adjusted EBITDA, improvements in working capital management and lower net capital expenditures, exclusive of significant strategic growth investments. 

“2025 was another year of strong operational performance and profitable growth led by our ES segment, where both technical services and Safety-Kleen Environmental delivered 7 percent revenue growth,” Gerstenberg says. “We topped $6 billion in annual revenues and exceeded $500 million in adjusted free cash flow for the first time in our history.” 

The company reported its best-ever safety performance, with a record total recordable incident rate (TRIR) of 0.49. Clean Harbors also reported operational milestones in 2025, including the first-year ramp-up of its Kimball incinerator, the creation of its Pheonix Hub, handling nearly 22,000 emergency response events, the issuance of its PFAS incineration study with the EPA and the reduction of voluntary turnover by 150 bps to a five-year low. 

DCI acquisitions  

“On the M&A front, we announced today the signing of a purchase and sale agreement to acquire environmental businesses from Depot Connect International (DCI) for approximately $130 million,” Co-CEO Mike Battles said during the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings conference call Feb. 18. 

Battles says these businesses will be integrated into Clean Harbor's facilities network within tech services and field services business. Clean Harbors finds this acquisition to be a strategic fit given DCI’s five locations in Ohio, Louisiana and Texas, and its fleet of trucks and equipment. 

“The businesses we are acquiring offer waste handling, tank cleaning and railcar cleaning, which is a great strategic fit for Clean Harbors,” Battles says. “Additionally, two facilities have wastewater treatment and solidification capabilities. We will integrate these businesses into our facilities network within technical services, as well as our field services business, and we expect to remain active on the acquisition front in 2026.” 

In the first quarter of 2026, Clean Harbors expects adjusted EBITDA to grow 4-7 percent year over year in its ES segment and be up 1-3 percent on a consolidated basis.  

“We enter the year with strong momentum in our core hazardous waste collection and disposal businesses,” Battles says. “Our outlook is grounded in modest economic assumptions. We expect to achieve growth in revenue, adjusted EBITDA and margins again in 2026, as we continue to deliver value to our shareholders.”