FINANCING ARRANGEMENTS (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended		12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2013 Clean Harbors, Inc.	Dec. 31, 2012 Clean Harbors, Inc.	Dec. 31, 2013 Canadian subsidiaries	Jan. 17, 2012 LIBOR loans	Jan. 17, 2012 Base rate loans	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior unsecured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2020	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior unsecured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2020	Jul. 30, 2012 Senior unsecured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2020	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior unsecured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2020 Redeemable Debt Redemption Rate of 107.625 Percent	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior unsecured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2021	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior unsecured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2021	Dec. 07, 2012 Senior unsecured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2021 Safety-Kleen	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior secured notes	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior secured notes	Jul. 30, 2012 Senior secured notes	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior secured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2020	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior secured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2020	Dec. 07, 2012 Senior secured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2020	Jul. 30, 2012 Senior secured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2020	Dec. 31, 2013 Senior secured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2021	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior secured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2021	Dec. 28, 2012 Senior secured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2021 Safety-Kleen	Jul. 30, 2012 Senior secured notes Secured Senior Notes 2016	Jan. 17, 2013 Revolving credit facility	Jan. 17, 2013 Revolving credit facility Clean Harbors, Inc.	Jan. 17, 2013 Revolving credit facility Canadian subsidiaries	Jan. 17, 2013 Revolving credit facility LIBOR loans	Jan. 17, 2013 Revolving credit facility Base rate loans	Jan. 17, 2013 Letters of credit	Jan. 17, 2013 Letters of credit Clean Harbors, Inc.	Jan. 17, 2013 Letters of credit Canadian subsidiaries	Jan. 17, 2013 Previous revolving credit facility	Jan. 17, 2013 Previous revolving credit facility LIBOR loans	Jan. 17, 2013 Previous revolving credit facility Base rate loans
Financing arrangements
Long-term Debt, Gross								$ 800,000,000	$ 800,000,000			$ 600,000,000	$ 600,000,000							$ 600,000,000	$ 800,000,000			$ 600,000,000	$ 520,000,000
Long-term obligations	1,400,000,000	1,400,000,000	1,400,000,000	1,400,000,000											1,400,000,000	1,400,000,000
Senior secured notes, interest rate (as a percent)										5.25%				5.125%			7.625%							5.125%
Long-term Debt, Fair Value																		804,200,000	816,000,000			601,600,000	623,500,000
2016								102.625%				102.563%
2017								101.313%				101.281%
2018 and thereafter								100.00%				100.00%
Long-term Debt Redemption With Net Proceeds from Equity offerings as Percentage of Principal Amount								35.00%
Percentage of redemption price to principle amount (as a percent)											105.25%	105.125%
Percentage Of Aggregate Principle Of Debt								65.00%				65.00%
Long-term Debt Redemption, Price as Percentage of Principal Amount												100.00%
Revolving credit facility, maximum borrowing capacity																										400,000,000	300,000,000	100,000,000.0			325,000,000	250,000,000	75,000,000.0	250,000,000
Variable interest rate, basis						LIBOR	BofA's base rate
Debt Instrument Basis Spread on Variable Rate Low End of Range																													1.50%	0.75%					1.75%	0.50%
Applicable margin on variable interest rate basis, high end of range (as a percent)																													2.00%	1.25%					2.25%	1.00%
Credit Available, Subject to Percentage of Accounts Receivable			85.00%		85.00%
Credit Available, Subject to Percentage of Cash Deposited			100.00%		100.00%
Line Of Credit Facility Borrowing Capacity	259,700,000	117,400,000
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount	$ 140,300,000	$ 132,600,000