Acquisitions (Narrative) (Detail) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands		1 Months Ended							3 Months Ended								6 Months Ended	7 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Jun. 02, 2016 USD ($) shares	Jun. 30, 2016	Nov. 30, 2015 USD ($) territory property	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 USD ($) territory	Oct. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) entity	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) entity	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) entity	Jun. 01, 2016 USD ($) $ / shares
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash consideration, net of cash acquired																			$ 17,131	$ 230,517	$ 126,181
Increase in goodwill																	$ 146,329
Decrease in property and equipment																	(5,257)
Acquisition related costs																				$ 4,235	$ 2,147
Number of individual businesses acquired that are not specifically described | entity																				11	5
Contingent consideration													$ 49,394							$ 49,394
Decrease in contingent consideration																			(2,623)	(22,180)	$ (3,450)
Payment of contingent consideration recorded at acquisition date																			16,322	2,190	24,847
Revenues									$ 1,048,622	$ 1,084,922	$ 727,639	$ 514,680	531,937	$ 547,938	$ 531,312	$ 506,100			3,375,863	2,117,287	2,079,166
Income before income tax provision																			361,365	(126,286)	385,662
Goodwill expected to be deductible for tax purposes													40,863							40,863	18,778
Goodwill acquired																			$ 3,015,066	140,822	18,778
Trade receivables acquired in business combination gross contractual amount													13,037							13,037	3,981
Trade receivables acquired In business combination expected to be uncollectible amount													$ 466							466	$ 196
Fair value of acquired working capital is provisional | entity																			3
Contracts [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Decrease in intangible assets																	13,473
Customer Lists [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Decrease in intangible assets																	(43,824)
Dunn & Company LLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Contingent consideration payable period								2 years
Contingent consideration								$ 2,923
Payment of contingent consideration recorded at acquisition date																			$ 3,000
Dunn & Company LLC [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Fair value discount rate								2.70%
Contingent consideration								$ 3,000
Dunn & Company LLC [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Fair value discount rate								2.40%
Shale Gas [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of E&P waste stream treatment and recycling operations acquired | territory					2
Cash consideration, net of cash acquired					$ 41,000
Contingent consideration payable period					2 years
Contingent consideration									$ 0								0	$ 0	0
DNCS [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash consideration, net of cash acquired				$ 30,000
Fair value discount rate				4.75%
Long-term note payment period				20 years
Liabilities incurred				$ 5,088
Total future cash payments				7,500
DNCS [Member] | First 10 Years [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Annual principal payment				500												500
DNCS [Member] | Years 11 Through 20 [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Annual principal payment				$ 250												$ 250
Screwbean Landfill, LLC [Member] | Dunn & Company LLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash consideration, net of cash acquired								$ 27,020
Rumsey Environmental LLC [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash consideration, net of cash acquired							$ 16,000
Contingent consideration payable period							2 years
Fair value discount rate							2.80%
Contingent consideration							$ 1,891
Payment of contingent consideration recorded at acquisition date																			2,000
Rumsey Environmental LLC [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Contingent consideration							$ 2,000
Section 18 [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash consideration, net of cash acquired						$ 64,425
Fair value discount rate						5.20%
Contingent consideration						$ 37,724
Decrease in contingent consideration														$ (20,642)
Payment of contingent consideration recorded at acquisition date																				2,000
Section 18 [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Contingent consideration payable period						4 years
Section 18 [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Contingent consideration payable period						1 year
Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Contingent consideration payable period									1 year
Issuance of common shares to acquire Progressive Waste, shares | shares	52,145,919
Closing price per share | $ / shares																						$ 67.18
Fair value discount rate		2.00%
Acquisition related costs											$ 23,037	$ 8,521							31,408
Contingent payable fair value																						$ 10,488
Revenues																		1,184,965
Income before income tax provision																		155,832
Goodwill expected to be deductible for tax purposes									$ 303,594								303,594	303,594	303,594
Goodwill acquired																			3,008,246
Trade receivables acquired in business combination gross contractual amount									239,212								239,212	239,212	239,212
Trade receivables acquired In business combination expected to be uncollectible amount									7,503								7,503	7,503	$ 7,503
Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Contingent payable fair value																						$ 5,000
Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. [Member] | Waste Connections, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Stockholders equity stock conversion ratio																			2.076843
Percentage of combined company owned																						70.00%
Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. [Member] | Progressive Waste [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of combined company owned																						30.00%
Other Acquisition [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Acquisition related costs																			$ 1,968
Number of immaterial businesses acquired in period | entity																			12
Goodwill expected to be deductible for tax purposes									6,820								6,820	6,820	$ 6,820
Goodwill acquired																			6,820
Trade receivables acquired in business combination gross contractual amount									1,316								1,316	1,316	1,316
Trade receivables acquired In business combination expected to be uncollectible amount									$ 483								483	483	483
Rock River Environmental Services Inc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cash consideration, net of cash acquired			$ 225,000
Number Of Transfer Stations Acquired | property			1
Number of compost facilities acquired | property			1
Number of landfills acquired | property			2
Number of counties that operations were acquired in | territory			19
Number Of Recycling Facilities Acquired | property			1
Number Of Collection Operations Acquired | property			5
Debt [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Liabilities incurred																				$ 111,324
Debt [Member] | Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Liabilities incurred	$ 1,729,274																		$ 1,729,274
Debt [Member] | Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. [Member] | Credit Agreement [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Liabilities incurred	1,659,465
Tax-Exempt Bonds [Member] | Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Liabilities incurred	64,000																	$ 64,000
Other Long-term Liabilities [Member] | Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Liabilities incurred	$ 5,809
Contingent Consideration [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Increase in contingent consideration																	6,647
Increase in deferred income taxes																	6,647
Deferred Income Taxes [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Increase in contingent consideration																	105,436
Increase in deferred income taxes																	$ 105,436