Vertex Energy reported higher earnings and revenue from 2022 for its Heartland used motor oil collection and recycling business, which it sold Feb. 1 this year to waste management company GFL Environmental.
Vertex in its earnings SEC filing for the full year and fourth quarter continued to classify its used motor oil collection and processing business – known as the Heartland assets and operations – as discontinued operations. That includes its rerefinery in Ohio.
Income from discontinued operations increased 36% to $23.4 million last year, compared to $17.2 million. Sales revenue from the discontinue operations jumped 47% to $85.5 million last year, up from $58.2 million.
On Feb. 1 this year, Vertex announced it had reached an agreement to sell its Heartland used motor oil collection and recycling business to GFL Environmental for $90 million. That deal came a little more than a year after Vertex and Clean Harbors backed out of a June 2021 agreement for Clean Harbors – parent of rerefiner Safety-Kleen – to buy those same operations plus a Louisiana refinery that does not make base oil.
The companies canceled that deal because of its scrutiny by the United States Federal Trade Commission. Clean Harbors’ Safety-Kleen Sustainability Solutions is by far the largest producer in the country of rerefined base oils, whereas GFL was not in that business segment before the Heartland acquisition.
The transaction with GFL includes Vertex’s rerefinery in Columbus, Ohio, which has capacity to process 20 million gallons per year of used motor oil and to produce 55,000 metric tons per year of API Group II base stocks. It also includes the associated Heartland used motor oil collections business.