EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE - Computation of Basic and Diluted Net Income Per Share (Detail) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015
Numerator:
Net income attributable to Stericycle, Inc.	$ 46,034	$ 87,830	$ 122,820	$ 116,770
Less: mandatory convertible preferred stock dividend	10,021	0	20,127	0
Less: gain on repurchase of preferred stock	(1,280)	0	(1,280)	0
Net Income Attributable to Stericycle, Inc. Common Shareholders	$ 37,293	$ 87,830	$ 103,973	$ 116,770
Denominator:
Denominator for basic earnings per share-weighted average shares (in shares)	84,893,263	84,961,907	84,799,131	85,000,723
Effect of diluted securities:
Employee stock based awards (in shares)	867,423	1,259,127	999,761	1,292,093
Mandatory convertible preferred stock (in shares)	0	0	0	0
Denominator for diluted earnings per share-adjusted weighted average shares and after assumed exercises (in shares)	85,760,686	86,221,034	85,798,892	86,292,816
Earnings per share - Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.44	$ 1.03	$ 1.23	$ 1.37
Earnings per share - Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.43	$ 1.02	$ 1.21	$ 1.35
Series A Preferred Stock
Numerator:
Less: gain on repurchase of preferred stock	$ (1,280)
Effect of diluted securities:
Antidilutive shares excluded from computation of diluted earnings per share (in shares)	5,624,139		5,637,757