CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2021	Mar. 31, 2020
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 58,083,993	$ 36,203,429
Cost of revenues (exclusive of depreciation and amortization shown separately below)	43,346,274	26,836,854
Depreciation and amortization attributable to costs of revenues	1,347,820	1,178,594
Gross profit	13,389,899	8,187,981
Operating expenses:
Selling, general and administrative expenses	7,926,580	6,700,518
Depreciation and amortization attributable to operating expenses	482,869	455,953
Total operating expenses	8,409,449	7,156,471
Income from operations	4,980,450	1,031,510
Other income (expense):
Other income	0	80
Gain on sale of assets	1,424	0
Gain (loss) on change in value of derivative warrant liability	(1,780,203)	1,698,747
Interest expense	(236,333)	(340,086)
Total other income (expense)	(2,015,112)	1,358,741
Income before income tax	2,965,338	2,390,251
Income tax benefit (expense)	0	0
Net income	2,965,338	2,390,251
Net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interest and redeemable non-controlling interest	1,990,969	(398,609)
Net income attributable to Vertex Energy, Inc.	974,369	2,788,860
Accretion of redeemable noncontrolling interest to redemption value	(373,748)	(10,966,349)
Accretion of discount on Series B and B1 Preferred Stock	(223,727)	(932,003)
Dividends on Series B and B1 Preferred Stock	258,138	(344,499)
Net income (loss) available to common shareholders	$ 635,032	$ (9,453,991)
Income (loss) per common share
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.01	$ (0.21)
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.01	$ (0.21)
Shares used in computing earnings per share
Basic (in shares)	47,709,450	45,372,358
Diluted (in shares)	49,006,195	45,372,358