FINANCING ARRANGEMENTS (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended		9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012 LIBOR loans	Dec. 31, 2012 Base rate loans	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior unsecured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2020	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior unsecured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2020	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior unsecured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2020 Redeemable Debt Redemption Rate of 107.625 Percent	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior unsecured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2021	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior unsecured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2021	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior unsecured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2021 Safety-Kleen [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior secured notes	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior secured notes	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior secured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2020	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior secured notes Unsecured Senior Notes 2021 Safety-Kleen [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Senior secured notes Secured Senior Notes 2016	Dec. 31, 2011 Senior secured notes Secured Senior Notes 2016	May 31, 2012 Revolving credit facility	May 31, 2012 Revolving credit facility Clean Harbor [Member]	May 31, 2012 Revolving credit facility Canadian subsidiaries	Dec. 31, 2012 Revolving credit facility LIBOR loans	Dec. 31, 2012 Revolving credit facility Base rate loans	May 31, 2012 Letters of credit	May 31, 2012 Letters of credit Clean Harbor [Member]	May 31, 2012 Letters of credit Canadian subsidiaries	May 31, 2012 Previous revolving credit facility	Dec. 31, 2012 Previous revolving credit facility LIBOR loans	Dec. 31, 2012 Previous revolving credit facility Base rate loans	Dec. 31, 2012 Standby Letters of Credit [Member]
Financing arrangements
Long-term Debt Redemption With Net Proceeds from Equity offerings as Percentage of Principal Amount					35.00%
Long-term Debt, Gross					$ 800,000,000	$ 0		$ 600,000,000	$ 0				$ 800,000,000	$ 600,000,000	$ 0	$ 520,000,000
Revolving credit facility, due May 31, 2016
Unamortized notes premium and discount, net											0	(4,203,000)
Long-term obligations	1,400,000,000	524,203,000									1,400,000,000	524,203,000
Senior secured notes, interest rate (as a percent)					5.25%					5.125%		7.625%		5.125%
2016					102.625%			102.563%
2017					101.313%			101.281%
2018 and thereafter					100.00%			100.00%
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%
Long-term Debt Redemption Price Due to Change of Control as Percentage of Principal Amount					101.00%
Revolving credit facility, maximum borrowing capacity																	400,000,000	300,000,000	100,000,000			325,000,000	250,000,000	75,000,000	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%
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount	132,600,000	82,600,000																										46,000,000
Line Of Credit Facility Borrowing Capacity	$ 117,400,000	$ 167,400,000