Recently Adopted and Recently Issued Accounting Standards (Details 2) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2018	Mar. 31, 2017
Revenues from continuing operations:
Total revenues	$ 408,038	$ 372,541
Costs and expenses from continuing operations:
Costs of services sold	199,373	189,482
Costs of products sold	111,980	98,790
Selling, general and administrative costs	57,083	53,937
Total costs and expenses	371,497	343,934
Operating income from continuing operations	36,541	28,607
Interest expense	(9,583)	(11,653)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	28,295	16,767
Income tax expense	(8,266)	(6,253)
Income from continuing operations	20,029	10,514
Net income	19,577	10,137
Amounts attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders:
Income from continuing operations, net of tax	18,260	9,267
Net income attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders	$ 17,808	$ 8,890
Basic earnings (loss) per common share attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders:
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.23	$ 0.12
Basic earnings (loss) per share attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders (in dollars per share)	0.22	0.11	[1]
Diluted earnings (loss) per common share attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders:
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	0.22	0.11
Diluted earnings (loss) per share attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 0.21	$ 0.11
Difference between Revenue Guidance in Effect before and after Topic 606 | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09
Revenues from continuing operations:
Total revenues	$ (9,102)
Costs and expenses from continuing operations:
Costs of services sold	1,358
Costs of products sold	(9,930)
Selling, general and administrative costs	16
Total costs and expenses	(8,556)
Operating income from continuing operations	(546)
Interest expense	452
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	(94)
Income tax expense	(8)
Income from continuing operations	(102)
Net income	(102)
Amounts attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders:
Income from continuing operations, net of tax	(102)
Net income attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders	$ (102)
Basic earnings (loss) per common share attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders:
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.00
Basic earnings (loss) per share attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders (in dollars per share)	0.00
Diluted earnings (loss) per common share attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders:
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	0.00
Diluted earnings (loss) per share attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 0.00
Difference between Revenue Guidance in Effect before and after Topic 606 | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 | Service Revenues [Member]
Revenues from continuing operations:
Total revenues	$ 1,350
Difference between Revenue Guidance in Effect before and after Topic 606 | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 | Product Revenues [Member]
Revenues from continuing operations:
Total revenues	(10,452)
Calculated under Revenue Guidance in Effect before Topic 606 [Member]
Revenues from continuing operations:
Total revenues	398,936
Costs and expenses from continuing operations:
Costs of services sold	200,731
Costs of products sold	102,050
Selling, general and administrative costs	57,099
Total costs and expenses	362,941
Operating income from continuing operations	35,995
Interest expense	(9,131)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	28,201
Income tax expense	(8,274)
Income from continuing operations	19,927
Net income	19,475
Amounts attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders:
Income from continuing operations, net of tax	18,158
Net income attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders	$ 17,706
Basic earnings (loss) per common share attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders:
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.23
Basic earnings (loss) per share attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders (in dollars per share)	0.22
Diluted earnings (loss) per common share attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders:
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	0.22
Diluted earnings (loss) per share attributable to Harsco Corporation common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 0.21
Calculated under Revenue Guidance in Effect before Topic 606 [Member] | Service Revenues [Member]
Revenues from continuing operations:
Total revenues	$ 256,312
Calculated under Revenue Guidance in Effect before Topic 606 [Member] | Product Revenues [Member]
Revenues from continuing operations:
Total revenues	$ 142,624

[1] Does not total due to rounding