Commitments and Contingencies - Additional information (Detail)		3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended
	Jul. 10, 2015 USD ($) Violations Employees	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) site Landfill Homeowners	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) site Landfill Homeowners	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Jul. 20, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Term of Guarantees of financial obligations					Guarantees of unconsolidated entities' financial obligations maturing through 2020
Maximum future payments regarding guarantees of unconsolidated entities financial obligations		$ 8,000,000			$ 8,000,000
Approximate number of homeowners' properties adjacent to or near certain of our landfills with agreements guaranteeing market value | Homeowners		800			800
Number of landfills adjacent to or near homeowners' properties with agreements guaranteeing market value | Landfill		20			20
High end estimate of reasonably possible additional losses associated with environmental remediation liabilities		$ 195,000,000			$ 195,000,000
Environmental remediation liability		$ 229,000,000			$ 229,000,000
Number of sites listed on the EPA's NPL for which we have been notified we are a PRP | site		76			76
Number of owned sites listed on the EPA's NPL for which we have been notified we are a PRP | site		15			15
Number of non-owned sites listed on the EPA's NPL for which we have been notified we are a PRP | site		61			61
Assessment of civil penalty amount							$ 528,000
Approximate percentage of workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements		20.00%			20.00%
Amount associated with withdrawal from underfunded multiemployer pension plans		$ 2,095,000,000		$ 2,299,000,000	$ 6,204,000,000	$ 6,832,000,000
Waste Management of Hawaii Inc. ("WMHI") [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of violations reported | Violations	2
Number of employees indicted | Employees	2
Payment of environmental fines	$ 400,000
Payment towards environmental projects	200,000
Payment of environmental fines by employees	$ 25,000
2014 Audit [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of months expected for IRS audit(s) to be completed					6 months
2015 Audit [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Number of months expected for IRS audit(s) to be completed					18 months
Certain Underfunded Multiemployer Pension Plans [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Amount associated with withdrawal from underfunded multiemployer pension plans			$ 55,000,000
Wheelabrator [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Maximum future payments regarding guarantees of unconsolidated entities financial obligations								$ 176,000,000
Financial and performance obligations, net liability		16,000,000			$ 16,000,000			$ 18,000,000
Domestic Line of Credit [Member]
Commitments And Contingencies [Line Items]
Credit Facility, aggregate capacity		$ 2,250,000,000			$ 2,250,000,000