Clean Harbors names co-chief executive officers

Clean Harbors Inc., Norwell, Massachusetts, a provider of environmental and industrial services throughout North America, has announced that it has appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) Eric W. Gerstenberg and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Michael L. Battles as co-CEOs of the company, effective March 31, 2023.

As part of a long-planned transition, they will succeed Clean Harbors’ founder Alan S. McKim, who has served as CEO for the past 42 years. McKim will become executive chairman of the board of directors and chief technology officer (CTO), and he will continue to spearhead the company’s merger and acquisition (M&A) and technology initiatives.

“Clean Harbors’ four decades of success stems from Alan McKim’s vision and extraordinary foresight of what the company could become,” says Dr. Gene Banucci, lead independent director of Clean Harbor’s board. “His determination and leadership took a four-person startup and fashioned it into a multi-billion-dollar provider of environmental and industrial services that is relied upon for safe, sustainable solutions by more than 300,000 customers today.”

Battles and Gerstenberg will work together as co-CEOs to direct the day-to-day operations.

“Eric and Mike are proven leaders here at Clean Harbors, and each brings a unique set of talents to their new role as co-CEOs,” McKim says. “Both have made valuable contributions to the company, and keeping this management team in place has been a top priority of mine. Our shareholders and more than 20,000 employees will benefit from their outstanding leadership. I have the utmost confidence in handing over the reins to Mike and Eric and in their ability to succeed at the top level of the organization. … I look forward to continuing to work with both Eric and Mike to advance Clean Harbors’ mission of creating a safer, cleaner environment through the treatment, recycling and disposal of hazardous materials.”

Since joining Clean Harbors in 1989, Gerstenberg has held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility throughout the organization, including COO since 2015. In that role, he oversaw the company’s environmental sales and service organization and all its facilities, including incinerators and re-refineries, and oversaw the majority of its workforce.

After a long career in public accounting at Deloitte & Touche, Cleveland, and as a finance leader at PerkinElmer Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts, Battles joined Clean Harbors in 2013 as chief accounting officer before being elevated to CFO in 2016. Since that time, he has overseen the company’s finances, including multiple debt raises and refinancings, and taken on some strategic and operational oversight. He also serves on Casella Waste Systems’ board of directors.

“The board believes that Mike and Eric together are not only the best choice, but the timing is ideal given the favorable market dynamics, positive momentum of the company and the wide range of skills that they collectively bring to the CEO position,” Banucci says. “Each one has been integral at the executive level to the company’s undeniable success over the past five-plus years. We believe that working collaboratively together they are uniquely positioned to execute the company’s strategic growth plan and navigate it through its next stage of development. On behalf of the board and the entire Clean Harbors community, we want to thank Alan for all he has accomplished and look forward to continuing to work with him as executive chairman and CTO for the foreseeable future.”