Commitments and Contingencies - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012 site Landfill Homeowners
Entity Information [Line Items]
Term of Guarantees of financial obligations	Guarantees of unconsolidated entities' financial obligations maturing through 2020
Maximum potential future payments regarding guarantees of unconsolidated entities financial obligations	$ 10,000,000
Approximate number of homeowners properties adjacent to or near certain of our landfills with agreements guaranteeing market value	850
Number of landfills adjacent to or near homeowners' properties with agreements guaranteeing market value	20
High end estimate of reasonably possible additional losses associated with environmental remediation liabilities	150,000,000
Environmental remediation liability	264,000,000
Number of sites listed on the EPA's NPL for which we have been notified we are a PRP	80
Number of owned sites listed on the EPA's NPL for which we have been notified we are a PRP	16
Number of non-owned sites listed on the EPA's NPL for which we have been notified we are a PRP	64
Dollar threshold for environmental matters requiring disclosure under item 103 of the SEC's Regulation S-K	$ 100,000
Approximate percentage of workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements	20.00%
2011 Audit [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Maximum number of months expected for IRS audits to be completed	3 months
2012 Audit [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Maximum number of months expected for IRS audits to be completed	15 months