SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Estimated Useful Lives of Assets

Property, plant and equipment is recorded at cost, less accumulated depreciation and amortization. We provide for depreciation and amortization using the straight-line method by charges to operations in amounts that allocate the cost of the assets over their estimated useful lives as follows:

Asset Classification	Estimated Useful Life
Buildings and improvements	10-30 years
Machinery and equipment	5-10 years
Rolling stock	5-10 years
Containers	5-12 years
Furniture and Fixtures	3-8 years

A summary of property, plant and equipment is as follows:

	December 31,
	2016			2015
Land	$	24,517		$	24,161
Landfills	570,464			536,577
Landfill operating lease contracts	133,239			125,991
Buildings and improvements	143,036			140,046
Machinery and equipment	132,748			131,384
Rolling stock	133,840			139,557
Containers	97,744			94,302
	1,235,588			1,192,018
Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization	(837,122		)	(789,766		)
	$	398,466		$	402,252