CLOSURE AND POST-CLOSURE LIABILITIES (Details) (USD $)	2 Months Ended	7 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Jul. 31, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2012 Landfill Retirement Liability	Sep. 30, 2012 Non-Landfill Retirement Liability	Sep. 30, 2012 Senior Notes [Member]	Aug. 15, 2012 Senior Notes [Member]	Jul. 30, 2012 Senior Notes [Member]	Jul. 16, 2012 Senior Notes [Member]	Jun. 30, 2012 Senior Notes [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior Notes [Member]
Changes to post-closure liabilities
Balance at the beginning of the period		$ 34,881,000	$ 34,881,000	$ 25,764,000	$ 9,117,000
New asset retirement obligations			2,292,000	2,292,000
Accretion			2,955,000	2,145,000	810,000
Changes in estimates recorded to statement of income			936,000	490,000	446,000
Other changes in estimates recorded to balance sheet			(2,043,000)	(2,058,000)	15,000
Expenditures			(2,560,000)	(1,995,000)	(565,000)
Currency translation and other			172,000	120,000	52,000
Balance at the end of the period	36,633,000		36,633,000	26,758,000	9,875,000
Inflation rate (as a percent)			1.02%
Debt Instrument, Face Amount								800,000,000
Senior secured notes						$ 0	$ 150,900,000		$ 490,000,000	$ 520,000,000	$ 520,000,000
Credit-adjusted risk-free rate (as a percent)	6.66%	8.56%