By the numbers
Full-year 2024 revenue: $5.89B
Up 9% year over year
Q4 net income: $83.9M
Down 14.6% year over year
Full-year net income: $402.3M
Up 6.4% year over year
- Financial picture: During its Q4 and full-year earnings call on Feb. 19, co-CEO Eric Gerstenberg noted an “exceptional year” for the company, particularly its environmental services segment. Clean Harbors also grew adjusted earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization by 10% in 2024 and improved its retention rate and safety metrics.
- Kimball incinerator operations: Clean Harbors opened its incinerator in Kimball, Nebraska, in December, and will ramp up operations over the next 12 to 18 months. “Kimball's ability to handle more complex waste streams aligns well with the demand environment,” including reshoring, efforts to regulate PFAS and the current administration’s “pro-growth agenda,” Gerstenberg said. Clean Harbors spent about $210 million total on the project, including $75 million in 2024, said CFO Eric Dugas, but the incinerator is not expected to contribute to margins until after operations have ramped up.
- PFAS business opportunities: Clean Harbors continues to see ongoing interest in PFAS management services, with its pipeline growing an estimated 20% each quarter, Gerstenberg said. That includes a recent opportunity to manage aqueous film-forming foam, or AFFF, a firefighting foam known to contain PFAS. “We expect PFAS to remain a priority for the current administration and state regulators,” Gerstenberg said.
- Incinerator PFAS testing: In November, U.S. EPA and DOD officials visited Clean Harbors’ Utah facility to test whether its high-temperature incineration capabilities can meet a more stringent U.S. EPA testing standard for PFAS destruction. Results from that testing should be available by Q2. Gerstenberg said the company is “very confident” that the incinerator can meet such a standard.
- Safety-Kleen headwinds: Revenues were down 5% in 2024 for the Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions segment in Q4, which co-CEO Mike Battles said was due to weakening market conditions and pricing pressure in the U.S. base oil and lubricants market. The company shifted customers in the segment to a charge-for-oil model to offset the price conditions, he said.
- Environmental services growth: Clean Harbors’ Environmental Services segment marked its 11th consecutive quarter of year-over-year margin growth, said Battles. “The segment benefited from steady demand, strong waste collection volumes, a healthy flow of project work and favorable pricing.” The segment grew 11% for the full year, and 9% in Q4. Field Services revenue increased 47% year-over-year, in part because of Clean Harbors’ HEPACO acquisition.
- Infrastructure investments: In 2024, the company allocated about $20 million to expand its Baltimore location. In 2025, Battles said Clean Harbors is planning a “similar growth project” by expanding its presence in Phoenix. It will spend about $15 million to purchase and upgrade a site that will allow hazardous waste collection and service capabilities in that region which Battles said is in response to “rapid market growth” due to the semiconductor market.
- 2025 outlook: “We expect a year of profitable growth in 2025, led by our [environmental services] segment,” Gerstenberg said. In the first quarter of 2025, Clean Harbors expects adjusted EBITDA to grow between 4% and 6% year over year in that segment. For full-year 2025, Clean Harbors expects overall adjusted EBITDA in the range of $1.15 billion to $1.21 billion, which would be about 6% growth year over year. Estimated adjusted free cash flow for the year is estimated in the range of $430 million to $490 million.
