CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS - USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 12,112,577	$ 10,895,044
Restricted cash	100,125	100,125
Accounts receivable, net	5,796,484	4,858,847
Inventory	2,402,126	1,458,288
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	5,062,889	1,942,137
Assets held for sale, current	87,670,167	10,530,947
Total current assets	113,144,368	29,785,388
Noncurrent assets
Fixed assets, at cost	16,508,660	15,495,562
Less accumulated depreciation	(1,926,886)	(1,573,025)
Fixed assets, net	14,581,774	13,922,537
Finance lease right-of-use assets	14,842	18,100
Operating lease right-of use assets	4,850,112	4,734,497
Intangible assets, net	385,798	466,546
Other assets	11,708,732	1,008,733
Assets held for sale, noncurrent	0	72,164,157
TOTAL ASSETS	144,685,626	122,099,958
Current liabilities
Accounts payable	5,673,876	2,419,543
Accrued expenses	2,185,282	980,233
Dividends payable	0	606,550
Liabilities held for sale, current	38,765,716	14,342,808
Finance lease liability-current	346,322	122,702
Operating lease liability-current	872,694	783,747
Current portion of long-term debt, net of unamortized finance costs	14,398,267	4,367,169
Revolving note	0	133,446
Derivative commodity liability	155,929	94,214
Total current liabilities	62,398,086	23,850,412
Long-term liabilities
Long-term debt, net of unamortized finance costs	124,124	7,981,496
Finance lease liability-long-term	0	315,513
Operating lease liability-long-term	3,977,418	3,950,750
Liabilities held for sale, noncurrent	0	24,380,440
Derivative warrant liability	1,072,620	330,412
Total liabilities	67,572,248	60,809,023
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (Note 3)	0	0
TEMPORARY EQUITY
Series B and B-1 preferred shares	39,771,408	55,366,186
Redeemable non-controlling interest	39,771,408	31,611,674
EQUITY
Common stock, $0.001 par value per share; 750,000,000 shares authorized; 63,003,766 and 45,554,841 shares issued and outstanding at September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.	63,004	45,555
Additional paid-in capital	136,905,764	94,569,674
Accumulated deficit	(101,475,299)	(90,008,778)
Total Vertex Energy, Inc. stockholders' equity	35,493,855	4,606,871
Non-controlling interest	1,848,115	1,317,878
Total equity	37,341,970	5,924,749
TOTAL LIABILITIES, TEMPORARY EQUITY, AND EQUITY	144,685,626	122,099,958
Series B Preferred Stock
TEMPORARY EQUITY
Series B and B-1 preferred shares	0	12,718,339
Series B1 Preferred Stock
TEMPORARY EQUITY
Series B and B-1 preferred shares	0	11,036,173
Series A Preferred Stock
EQUITY
Series A and C Preferred stock	386	420
Series C Preferred Stock
EQUITY
Series A and C Preferred stock	$ 0	$ 0