Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Cover
- Document And Entity Information
Financial Statements
Notes to Financial Statements
Accounting Policies
- Accounting Policies, by Policy (Policies)
Notes Tables
Notes Details

Note 5 - Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (Tables)

v2.4.1.9

Note 5 - Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Note 5 - Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (Tables) [Line Items]

Goodwill (amounts in thousands)	Treatment			Services			Total
Balance as of December 31, 2012	$	13,691		$	15,495		$	29,186
Goodwill impairment		(13,691	)		(14,165	)		(27,856	)
Balance as of December 31, 2013		—			1,330		$	1,330
Goodwill impairment		—			(380	)		(380	)
Sale of SYA subsidary		—			(950	)		(950	)
Balance as of December 31, 2014	$	—		$	—		$	—

Schedule of Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Table Text Block]

			December 31, 2014							December 31, 2013
	Useful		Gross					Net		Gross					Net
	Lives		Carrying		Accumulated			Carrying		Carrying		Accumulated			Carrying
	(Years)		Amount		Amortization			Amount		Amount		Amortization			Amount
Intangibles (amount in thousands)
Patent		8-18	$	512	$	(168	)	$	344	$	514	$	(155	)	$	359
Software		3		375		(319	)		56		379		(258	)		121
Non-compete agreement		1.2		265		(265	)		—		265		(174	)		91
Customer contracts		0.5		790		(790	)		—		790		(790	)		—
Customer relationships		12		3,370		(1,335	)		2,035		3,370		(961	)		2,409
Total			$	5,312	$	(2,877	)	$	2,435	$	5,318	$	(2,338	)	$	2,980

Schedule of Finite-Lived Intangible Assets, Future Amortization Expense [Table Text Block]

	Amount
Year	(In thousands)

2015	$	510
2016		425
2017		391
2018		361
2019		280
	$	1,967

Permits [Member]

Note 5 - Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (Tables) [Line Items]

Schedule of Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Table Text Block]

Permit (amount in thousands)	Treatment
Balance as of December 31, 2012	$	16,799
PCB permit amortized⁽¹⁾		(55	)
Balance as of December 31, 2013		16,744
PCB permit amortized⁽¹⁾		(55	)
Permit in progress		20
Balance as of December 31, 2014	$	16,709

- Details

Name:	pesi_Note5GoodwillandOtherIntangibleAssetsTablesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	pesi_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of the amount of amortization expense expected to be recorded in succeeding fiscal years for finite-lived intangible assets.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 350

-SubTopic 30

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-Subparagraph (a)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26713463&loc=d3e16323-109275

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleofFiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsFutureAmortizationExpenseTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of assets, excluding financial assets and goodwill, lacking physical substance with a finite life, by either major class or business segment.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 350

-SubTopic 30

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-Subparagraph (a)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26713463&loc=d3e16265-109275

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 350

-SubTopic 30

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-Subparagraph (a)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26713463&loc=d3e16323-109275

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfFiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsTableTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Tabular disclosure of goodwill by reportable segment and in total which includes a rollforward schedule.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 350

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 1

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13816-109267

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 350

-SubTopic 20

-Section 50

-Paragraph 2

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35741047&loc=d3e13854-109267

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfGoodwillTextBlock
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FiniteLivedIntangibleAssetsByMajorClassAxis=pesi_PermitsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: