Segment Information - Additional Information (Details) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended																12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	[1]	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($)	[2]	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	[3]	Mar. 31, 2016 USD ($)	[4]	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)		Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	[6]	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	[7]	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)	[8]	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) segment		Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)		Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating Income (Loss)	$ 192.9		$ 206.4		$ 200.2		$ 180.8		$ 175.9	[5]	$ 219.4		$ 197.6		$ 157.1		$ 780.3		$ 750.0		$ 702.7
Number of reportable segments | segment																	3
Net sales	$ 1,476.6		$ 1,484.0		$ 1,417.4		$ 1,401.0		1,390.9	[5]	$ 1,470.8		$ 1,454.3		$ 1,425.7		$ 5,779.0		5,741.7		5,852.6
Paper
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating Income (Loss)																	138.1	[9]	112.5	[10]	135.4
Packaging
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating Income (Loss)																	711.1	[11]	714.9	[12]	663.2	[13]
Corporate and Other
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating Income (Loss)																	$ (68.9)	[14]	$ (77.4)	[15]	(95.9)	[16]
Office Depot | Customer Concentration Risk | Paper Segment Sales Revenue | Paper
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Concentration risk, percentage																	42.00%		45.00%
Foreign operations
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Net sales																	$ 289.5		$ 177.2		$ 378.8
Foreign operations | Packaging
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Long-Lived Assets									$ 12.4										$ 12.4
Boise Inc. | Packaging
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating Income (Loss)																	4.1
Boise Inc. | Corporate and Other
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating Income (Loss)																	9.3
Other Restructuring | Packaging
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating Income (Loss)																	$ 2.0

[1] Includes $4.5 million of closure costs related to a corrugated products facility and a paper products facility ($2.9 million after-tax or $0.03 per diluted share), $2.7 million of costs related to ceased production of softwood market pulp operations at our Wallula, Washington mill and the permanent shutdown of the No.1 machine ($1.8 million after-tax or $0.02 per diluted share), and $1.2 million of acquisition-related costs for TimBar Corporation and Columbus Container, Inc. acquisitions ($0.8 million after-tax or $0.01 per diluted share).

[2] Includes $2.0 million of closure costs related to a corrugated products facility and a paper products facility ($1.4 million after-tax or $0.02 per diluted share) and $2.9 million of acquisition-related costs for TimBar Corporation and Columbus Container, Inc. acquisitions ($1.9 million after-tax or $0.02 per diluted share).

[3] Includes $1.7 million of closure costs related to a corrugated products facility and a paper products facility ($1.0 million after-tax or $0.01 per diluted share), $0.3 million of acquisition-related costs for TimBar Corporation ($0.2 million after-tax or $0.0 per diluted share), and $0.9 million related to our withdrawal from a multiemployer pension plan for one of our corrugated products facilities ($0.6 million after-tax or $0.01 per diluted share).

[4] Includes $2.8 million of closure costs related to a corrugated products facility and a paper products facility. ($1.9 million after-tax or $0.02 per diluted share).

[5] Includes $3.5 million of income from DeRidder restructuring ($2.2 million after-tax or $0.02 per diluted share) and $3.8 million of integration-related and other costs ($2.6 million after-tax or $0.03 per diluted share).

[6] Includes $3.8 million of income from DeRidder restructuring ($2.3 million after-tax or $0.02 per diluted share) and $2.4 million of integration-related and other costs ($1.7 million after-tax or $0.02 per diluted share). Also includes $6.7 million gain from the sale of our paper mill site at St. Helens, Oregon ($4.4 million after tax or $0.05 per diluted share).

[7] Includes $1.0 million of income from DeRidder restructuring ($0.7 million after-tax or $0.01 per diluted share) and $3.7 million of integration-related and other costs ($2.3 million after-tax or $0.03 per diluted share).

[8] Includes $10.3 million of DeRidder restructuring charges ($6.6 million after-tax or $0.07 per diluted share) and $3.5 million of integration-related and other costs ($2.2 million after-tax or $0.02 per diluted share). Also includes a $3.6 million tax credit from the State of Louisiana related to our capital investment and the jobs retained at the DeRidder, Louisiana mill.

[9] Includes $2.7 million of costs related to ceased softwood market pulp operations at our Wallula, Washington mill and the permanent shut down of the No.1 machine. Includes $1.7 million of closure costs related to a paper products facility.

[10] In September 2015, we sold the remaining land, buildings, and equipment at our paper mill site in St. Helens, Oregon where we ceased paper production in December 2012. We recorded a $6.7 million gain on the sale.

[11] Includes $9.3 million of closure costs related to corrugated product facilities.Includes $4.2 million of acquisition-related costs for the TimBar Corporation and Columbus Container, Inc. acquisitions. Includes $0.9 million of costs related to our withdrawal from a multiemployer pension plan for one of our corrugated products facilities.

[12] Includes net charges of $2.0 million primarily related to restructuring activities at our mill in DeRidder, Louisiana and $4.1 million of Boise acquisition integration-related and other costs.

[13] Includes $65.8 million of costs related primarily to the conversion of the No. 3 newsprint machine at our DeRidder, Louisiana mill to produce lightweight linerboard and corrugating medium, and our exit from the newsprint business in September 2014. Includes $4.9 million of Boise acquisition integration-related and other costs.

[14] Includes $0.3 million of acquisition-related costs for the TimBar Corporation acquisition.

[15] Includes $9.3 million of Boise acquisition integration-related and other costs. These costs primarily relate to professional fees, severance, retention, relocation, travel, and other integration-related costs.

[16] Includes $13.5 million of Boise acquisition integration-related and other costs and $17.6 million of costs for the settlement of the Kleen Products LLC v Packaging Corp. of America et al class action lawsuit. See Note 18, Commitments, Guarantees, Indemnifications, and Legal Proceedings, for more information.