Discontinued Operations - Narrative (Details) $ in Thousands	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	May 31, 2015 USD ($)	May 31, 2016 USD ($) transaction	May 31, 2015 USD ($) transaction buyer	May 31, 2014 USD ($)
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Gain on Shred-it		$ 378,359
Equity method investments	$ 225,700	14,500	$ 225,700
Shredding Transaction asset impairment charge		0	0	$ 16,143
Dividends received on equity method investment		0	5,247	0
Proceeds from Shredding transactions, net of cash contributed		580,837	3,344	179,359
Gain on disposal of discontinued operations		$ 15,786	38,573	0
Number of transactions involved in sale of business | transaction		3
Proceeds from Storage transactions, net of cash contributed		$ 35,338	158,428	0
Discontinued Operations
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Gain on Shred-it		378,359	0	0
Gain on disposal of discontinued operations		15,786	$ 38,573	0
Discontinued Operations | Storage Business
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Gain on disposal of discontinued operations		10,900
Number of transactions involved in sale of business | transaction			3
Number of buyers involved in sale of business | buyer			3
Proceeds from Storage transactions, net of cash contributed			$ 158,400
Discontinued Operations, Held-for-sale | Storage Business
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Gain on disposal of discontinued operations		4,800
Proceeds from Storage transactions, net of cash contributed		24,400
Shred-it Partnership
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Gain on Shred-it			4,100	106,400
Fair value of consideration received				180,000
Retained non-controlling interest fair value				339,400
Equity method investments	210,100		210,100	$ 413,000
Equtiy method investment ownership (as a percent)				42.00%
Shredding Transaction asset impairment charge				$ 16,100
Other transaction costs				28,500
Professional and legal fees				4,700
Employee termination benefit costs				700
Stock compensation expense				12,400
Information systems contracts charge				4,200
Incremental profit sharing and employee compensation				6,500
Equity method investment net gain (loss)		(24,300)	(5,500)	1,200
Dividends received on equity method investment	113,400	0	113,400	$ 0
Equity method investment, difference between carrying value and underlying net assets	$ 94,000		$ 94,000
Amortization period			9 years
Amortization of basis differences		4,800	$ 11,000
Loss related to litigation			$ 1,000
Proceeds from Shredding transactions, net of cash contributed		578,300
Gain on disposal of discontinued operations		4,300
Equity method investment, gain contingency		$ 30,000