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Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) - Information (Detail) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Millions	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended							12 Months Ended
	May 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2019	Sep. 30, 2019	Jun. 30, 2019	Mar. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Sep. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Quarterly Financial Information
Loss on investment					$ 3
Positive (negative) impact on earnings per share		$ (0.07)	$ (0.02)	$ (0.06)	$ (0.13)	$ 0.07	$ (0.05)	$ 0.07
Loss on early extinguishment of debt									$ (85)		$ (6)
Net pre-tax (gains) losses		$ 37		$ 32			$ 32
Gain (loss) on sale of assets								$ 40		$ 96	38
Impairment charges				16		$ 8			42	38	41
Business acquisition costs			$ 8	9
Solid waste operations impairment		10		$ 7					15
Goodwill impairment charges		27							27	6	34
Reduction in provision for income taxes due to tax audit settlements								$ (33)	(2)	(40)	$ (2)
Senior Notes, Aggregate [Member]
Quarterly Financial Information
Positive (negative) impact on earnings per share				$ (0.15)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	$ 84			$ (84)
Early extinguishment of high-coupon senior notes	$ 257			$ 257
Energy and Environmental Services [Member]
Quarterly Financial Information
Goodwill impairment charges		17							17
Lamp Tracker Reporting Unit [Member]
Quarterly Financial Information
Goodwill impairment charges		$ 10							10
Landfill [Member]
Quarterly Financial Information
Impairment charges							$ 29			30
Advanced Disposal Services [Member]
Quarterly Financial Information
Positive (negative) impact on earnings per share		$ (0.07)
Net pre-tax (gains) losses		$ 38
Tax Implications [Member]
Quarterly Financial Information
Positive (negative) impact on earnings per share						$ 0.04	$ 0.06
Net reduction in income tax expense due to Tax Cuts and Jobs Act							$ (27)
Deferred tax adjustment						$ (17)
Tier 1 [Member]
Quarterly Financial Information
Gain (loss) on sale of assets						$ 52				52
Other [Member]
Quarterly Financial Information
Gain (loss) on sale of assets										44
Goodwill impairment charges									$ 27	$ 6