Debt (Details)	9 Months Ended					9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended						3 Months Ended									3 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 Secured Credit Agreement USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 Revolving Loans USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 Term Loan A AUD	Dec. 31, 2012 Term Loan A USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Term Loan A USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 Term Loan B USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Term Loan B USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Term Loan B USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 Term Loan C (81 million CAD at September 30, 2013) CAD	Sep. 30, 2013 Term Loan C (81 million CAD at September 30, 2013) USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Term Loan C (81 million CAD at September 30, 2013) USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Term Loan C (81 million CAD at September 30, 2013) USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 Term Loan D (99 million EUR at September 30, 2013) EUR (€)	Sep. 30, 2013 Term Loan D (99 million EUR at September 30, 2013) USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Term Loan D (99 million EUR at September 30, 2013) USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Term Loan D (99 million EUR at September 30, 2013) USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes 3.00%, Exchangeable, due 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior Notes 3.00%, Exchangeable, due 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Senior Notes 3.00%, Exchangeable, due 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes 7.375%, due 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior Notes 7.375%, due 2016 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Senior Notes 7.375%, due 2016 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Senior Notes 6.875%, due 2017 (300 million EUR) USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes 6.875%, due 2017 (300 million EUR) EUR (€)	Mar. 31, 2013 Senior Notes 6.875%, due 2017 (300 million EUR) EUR (€)	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior Notes 6.875%, due 2017 (300 million EUR) USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Senior Notes 6.875%, due 2017 (300 million EUR) USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes 6.75%, due 2020 (500 million EUR) USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes 6.75%, due 2020 (500 million EUR) EUR (€)	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior Notes 6.75%, due 2020 (500 million EUR) USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Senior Notes 6.75%, due 2020 (500 million EUR) USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2013 Senior Notes 4.875%, due 2021 (330 million EUR) USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes 4.875%, due 2021 (330 million EUR) USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 Senior Notes 4.875%, due 2021 (330 million EUR) EUR (€)	Mar. 31, 2013 Senior Notes 4.875%, due 2021 (330 million EUR) EUR (€)	Sep. 30, 2013 Payable to OI Inc. USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Payable to OI Inc. USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Payable to OI Inc. USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 Other debt USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Other debt USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Other debt USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 Accounts Receivable Securitization Program USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2012 Accounts Receivable Securitization Program USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2012 Accounts Receivable Securitization Program USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 European Accounts Receivable Securitization Program EUR (€)
Debt Instrument
Total long-term debt	$ 3,316,000,000	$ 3,574,000,000	$ 3,477,000,000				$ 53,000,000	$ 125,000,000	$ 450,000,000	$ 525,000,000	$ 548,000,000	81,000,000	$ 79,000,000	$ 102,000,000	$ 113,000,000	€ 99,000,000	$ 133,000,000	$ 163,000,000	$ 173,000,000	$ 612,000,000	$ 642,000,000	$ 637,000,000	$ 592,000,000	$ 591,000,000	$ 590,000,000		€ 300,000,000	€ 300,000,000	$ 396,000,000	$ 388,000,000	$ 675,000,000	€ 500,000,000	$ 660,000,000	$ 647,000,000		$ 446,000,000	€ 330,000,000	€ 330,000,000	$ 250,000,000	$ 250,000,000	$ 250,000,000	$ 79,000,000	$ 95,000,000	$ 103,000,000
Less amounts due within one year	18,000,000	37,000,000	23,000,000
Long-term debt	3,298,000,000	3,537,000,000	3,454,000,000
Maximum Borrowing Capacity					900,000,000																																											215,000,000
Debt repaid						51,000,000			75,000,000			21,000,000				24,000,000				46,000,000
Unused Credit				817,000,000
Weighted Average Interest Rate (as a percent)				2.02%
Proceeds net of issuance cost	704,000,000	119,000,000																																	418,000,000
Debt discharge																										300,000,000
Interest charges for note repurchase premiums and related write-off of unamortized finance fees																				3,000,000						11,000,000
Short-term loans and long-term debt due within one year	366,000,000	356,000,000	319,000,000																																										287,000,000	264,000,000	276,000,000
Weighted average interest rate, short-term debt (as a percent)																																													1.23%	1.33%	1.13%
Interest rate, stated percentage																				3.00%			7.375%			6.875%	6.875%				6.75%	6.75%				4.875%	4.875%	4.875%
Principal Amount																				644,000,000			600,000,000								675,000,000					446,000,000
Indicated Market Price (in dollars per share)																				$ 103.43			$ 113.00								$ 113.79					$ 102.48
Fair Value																				$ 666,000,000			$ 678,000,000								$ 768,000,000					$ 457,000,000