Information by Segment and Geographic Area (Details 3) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 segment	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2011 2011/2012 Restructuring Program	Dec. 31, 2011 2011/2012 Restructuring Program	Dec. 31, 2011 Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment	Dec. 31, 2010 Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment	Dec. 31, 2009 Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment	Dec. 31, 2011 Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment 2011/2012 Restructuring Program	Dec. 31, 2010 Harsco Infrastructure Segment	Dec. 31, 2011 Harsco Infrastructure Segment	Dec. 31, 2010 Harsco Infrastructure Segment	Dec. 31, 2009 Harsco Infrastructure Segment	Dec. 31, 2011 Harsco Infrastructure Segment 2011/2012 Restructuring Program	Dec. 31, 2011 Harsco Infrastructure Segment 2011/2012 Restructuring Program	Dec. 31, 2011 Sales Customer concentration risk Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment customer	Dec. 31, 2010 Sales Customer concentration risk Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment customer	Dec. 31, 2009 Sales Customer concentration risk Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment customer	Dec. 31, 2011 Sales Customer concentration risk ArcelorMittal Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment customer	Dec. 31, 2010 Sales Customer concentration risk ArcelorMittal Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment	Dec. 31, 2009 Sales Customer concentration risk ArcelorMittal Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment	Dec. 31, 2011 Sales Customer concentration risk ArcelorMittal Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment Minimum	Dec. 31, 2010 Sales Customer concentration risk ArcelorMittal Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment Minimum	Dec. 31, 2009 Sales Customer concentration risk ArcelorMittal Harsco Metals & Minerals Segment Minimum
Information by Segment and Geographic Area
Number of reportable segments	4
Operations by segment
Number of major customers																2	2	2	1
Revenues	$ 3,302,740,000	$ 3,038,678,000	$ 2,990,577,000			$ 1,588,302,000	$ 1,461,531,000	$ 1,257,098,000			$ 1,108,293,000	$ 1,031,807,000	$ 1,159,200,000						$ 361,900,000	$ 359,000,000	$ 305,600,000
Percentage of benchmark derived from specified source																						10.00%	10.00%	10.00%
Number of contracts whose loss could have material impact, minimum (in customers)																1
Pre-tax charges for restructuring activities		43,158,000		100,800,000	100,780,000				12,800,000	84,400,000				87,600,000	87,604,000
Additional charges expected to be incurred in 2012				97,000,000	97,000,000	12,000,000			12,000,000		85,000,000			85,000,000	85,000,000
Overall cost savings expected in 2012 associated with the 2011/2012 Restructuring Program	36,000,000			36,000,000	36,000,000
Overall cost savings expected in 2013 associated with the 2011/2012 Restructuring Program	$ 65,000,000			$ 65,000,000	$ 65,000,000