Acquisitions and Dispositions - Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Details) - Harsco Industrial - Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale - USD ($) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2019
Non-cash operating items
Depreciation and amortization	$ 0	$ 3,301
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchases of property, plant and equipment	$ 106	$ 6,151

Amount of deprecation and amortization expense attributable to property, plant and equipment and intangible assets of discontinued operations.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 230
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 28
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118932676&loc=d3e3602-108585

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 205
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 5B
-Subparagraph (c)(2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109222650&loc=SL51721673-107760

Name:	us-gaap_DepreciationAndAmortizationDiscontinuedOperations
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration