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By the numbers: Q3 2025
Revenue: $1.55B
Up 1.3% year over year
Net income: $118.8M
Up 3.1% year over year
Adjusted EBITDA: $320.2M
Up 6.1% year over year
- Financial picture: “Overall, Q3 results fell slightly short of our expectations,” said Clean Harbors co-CEO Eric Gerstenberg during a Wednesday earnings call. But despite some hiccups, “we remain optimistic with the continued growth and momentum in our waste collection and disposal assets.” Revenues and income from operations were relatively flat in Q3 for Clean Harbors. Industrial and field services were down slightly, as the company recorded few large projects in those segments. But executives said the company’s waste volumes, PFAS work and remediation projects drove up revenues, with incinerator utilization rates high and landfill volumes up 40% year over year.
- PFAS business: Executives said that the company’s per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance treatment business continued to grow 20% to 25% quarter over quarter. In 2025, Clean Harbors expects to generate $100 million to $120 million of revenue managing the material. Gerstenberg said: “We’re pretty bullish on how our prospects are panning out and the opportunities in front of us.” Activity in that market segment became “even stronger” once the results of Clean Harbors’ PFAS incineration test conducted in partnership with the U.S. EPA and Department of Defense came out in September, Gerstenberg noted. He said any supportive federal policy changes — like a recent proposal to lift DOD’s moratorium on PFAS incineration — would be “another accelerator” but not necessary to see growth in the business.
- M&A: Executives continued to tease action on M&A, even as they noted it would remain part of a balanced cash allocation strategy. So far, the company has not disclosed any acquisitions in 2025. Clean Harbors’ debt ratio is below 2x and its cash on hand will total about $1 billion by year end, said co-CEO Mike Battles, but he said Clean Harbors would remain “thoughtful” about acquisitions. That could include both bolt-on and large-scale acquisitions, he noted. “We’re trying to stay in our swim lane. We look at deals all the time. Price is certainly part of the discussion, no doubt about it,” Battles said.
- Segment results: Clean Harbors saw some positive financial results in both of its main business segments in Q3, reflecting what CFO Eric Dugas described as a "stable foundation" for the business. Environmental services revenues were $1.3 billion, up 2.6% from Q3 2024, and adjusted earnings before income, taxes, depreciation and amortization for the segment were up 7.4% year over year. Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions revenue was $675.2 million in Q3, down 5.2% year over year. Its adjusted EBITDA was $40.1 million, down 0.7% year over year.
- Incineration: Utilization of the Clean Harbors’ incinerators was 92% in Q3, up from 89% in Q3 2024. Ramp-up of the company’s newest hazardous waste incinerator in Kimball, Nebraska, continues apace. The facility processed over 10,000 tons of waste in the quarter and is still expected to achieve full operations next year.
- Outlook: Clean Harbors’ full-year 2025 adjusted EBITDA guidance ticked down slightly after the unexpected softness in industrial and field services in Q3, as well as higher-than-expected employee healthcare costs. The company's new guidance projects an adjusted EBITDA midpoint at $1.165 billion, which would be a 4% increase year over year. It projects an adjusted free cash flow midpoint of $475 million, which would be a more than 30% increase year over year.
