Arcwood Environmental
In the year of the original Earth Day arose a company dedicated to the practicalities of environmental protection.
Arcwood Environmental has been innovating ways to protect human health and the environment since before there were regulations mandating such measures. The company was founded in Indianapolis in 1970 – at the dawn of the modern American environmental movement – as Heritage Environmental Services (HES), with the task of helping heavy manufacturing, automotive, chemical, and metal-processing clients navigate complex industrial by-products.
What began as disposal services soon broadened into a vast variety of technologies and services for solving complex problems in the name of a safer world.
During its first two decades, Heritage expanded into product recycling and treatment. This included chemical neutralization, fuel blending, and metal reclamation. Landmark developments included the creation of copper-etchant recycling technologies (later spun out as Micronutrients) and the establishment of treatment, storage, and disposal facilities (TSDFs) across the Midwest and American Southwest.
At the start of the 21st Century, the company added a nationwide logistical reach via Heritage Transport and built specialized by-product management programs via Heritage Interactive Services (later Envita Solutions). It also acquired commercial hazardous waste incinerators—most notably its East Liverpool, Ohio facility (Heritage Thermal Services) as well as an incinerator in Orange, Texas.
It played a pivotal role as a primary waste contractor during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Gulf Coast cleanup.
In March 2025, the company became Arcwood Environmental – the result of its majority interest acquisition by the Swedish global investment firm EQT Infrastructure 14 months earlier. Under this rebranding, Arcwood declared its built-out status as a fully integrated North American industrial waste and sustainability platform.
Today, Arcwood Environmental manages approximately 630,000 tons of regulated industrial waste annually across dozens of permitted facilities, providing full-lifecycle services ranging from emergency spill response and PFAS destruction to hazardous fuel blending and resource reclamation. It is continually seeking out new strategies for “turning problems into progress.”
