Other Expenses (Details) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2011 entities	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Other (income) expenses
Net gains		$ (5,848,000)	$ (6,162,000)	$ (7,792,000)
Contingent consideration adjustments		0	(3,966,000)	(10,620,000)
Employee termination benefit costs		31,158,000	36,174,000	24,816,000
Costs to exit activities		38,626,000	10,007,000	34,384,000
Currency translation adjustments recognized in earnings		10,900,000
Product line rationalization		24,966,000	66,063,000	34,302,000
Impaired asset write-downs		7,152,000	0	9,966,000
Other (income) expense, miscellaneous		(2,278,000)	624,000	1,417,000
Other (income) expenses		93,776,000	102,740,000	86,473,000
Withdrawal liability to exit certain multi-employer pension plans				8,300,000
Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment
Other (income) expenses
Net gains		(2,449,000)	(1,666,000)	(3,942,000)
Employee termination benefit costs		8,082,000	18,533,000	4,684,000
Costs to exit activities		3,627,000	1,313,000	930,000
Impaired asset write-downs		7,152,000	0	1,028,000
Harsco Infrastructure Segment
Other (income) expenses
Net gains		(2,198,000)	(3,607,000)	(3,253,000)
Employee termination benefit costs		17,291,000	16,546,000	19,068,000
Costs to exit activities		34,820,000	8,694,000	33,458,000
Impaired asset write-downs		0	0	8,938,000
Assets held-for-sale, number of lines of business sold (in entities)	2
Harsco Industrial Segment
Other (income) expenses
Net gains		(1,089,000)	(889,000)	(597,000)
Employee termination benefit costs		418,000	423,000	486,000
Costs to exit activities		0	0	(4,000)
Harsco Rail Segment
Other (income) expenses
Employee termination benefit costs		245,000	296,000	578,000
Corporate
Other (income) expenses
Net gains		(112,000)	0	0
Employee termination benefit costs		5,122,000	376,000	0
Costs to exit activities		$ 179,000	$ 0	$ 0