Commitments and Contingencies (Narrative) (Detail) $ in Thousands, gal in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) agreement gal	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Contingencies And Commitments [Line Items]
Total rent expense under operating leases	$ 29,295	$ 26,858	$ 27,466
Amount of surety bonds to secure asset closure and retirement requirements	589,270	353,828
Amount of surety bonds to secure performance under collection contracts and landfill operating agreements	$ 273,465	121,687
Percentage of interest in company that issues financial surety bonds	9.90%
Outstanding amount of financial surety bonds	$ 546,145	185,753
Environmental remediation reserve - current portion	2,316	2,328
Environmental remediation reserve-Non-current portion	$ 19,026	12,049
Unrecorded unconditional purchase obligation, remaining volume | gal	22.3
Purchase commitment	$ 52,141
Number of collective bargaining agreements expired or set to expire | agreement	14
Estimated clean up costs			$ 342,000
Rock River Environmental Services Inc [Member]
Contingencies And Commitments [Line Items]
Environmental remediation reserve-Non-current portion		$ 11,301
Environmental Remediation Expense
Contingencies And Commitments [Line Items]
Estimated period to implement clean-up	seven years
Required period of monitoring following the clean-up	10 years
Minimum [Member]
Contingencies And Commitments [Line Items]
Range for non-cancelable operating leases	1 year
Maximum [Member]
Contingencies And Commitments [Line Items]
Range for non-cancelable operating leases	45 years