Long-Term Debt - Additional Information (Details)									1 Months Ended		2 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Oct. 15, 2015 USD ($)	Feb. 01, 2015 USD ($)	Jan. 12, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 18, 2014 USD ($)	Nov. 24, 2014 USD ($) tranche	Oct. 15, 2014 USD ($)	Feb. 07, 2014 USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2015 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Feb. 19, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 22, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 08, 2014 EUR (€)	Dec. 02, 2014 USD ($)	Nov. 24, 2014 EUR (€)	Aug. 15, 2014 USD ($)	Jan. 22, 2014 USD ($) payment	May. 29, 2013 USD ($)	Dec. 10, 2010 USD ($)	Jan. 20, 2005 USD ($)
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Aggregate annual maturities of long-term debt, 2016	$ 677,300,000											$ 677,300,000
Aggregate annual maturities of long-term debt, 2017	59,100,000											59,100,000
Aggregate annual maturities of long-term debt, 2018	86,400,000											86,400,000
Aggregate annual maturities of long-term debt, 2019	335,500,000											335,500,000
Aggregate annual maturities of long-term debt, 2020	1,158,400,000											1,158,400,000
Aggregate annual maturities of long-term debt, thereafter	1,544,500,000											1,544,500,000
Payment for settlement of interest rate swap												0	$ 33,425,000	$ 0
Interest rate cash flow hedge gain (loss) to be reclassified during next 12 months	3,300,000											3,300,000
Repayments of long-term debt												2,626,241,000	6,017,000	135,733,000
Proceeds from borrowings of other long-term debt												2,250,000,000	0	117,000,000
Debt financing costs paid												4,544,000	$ 17,644,000	$ 108,000
Revolving credit facility, remaining borrowings available	$ 648,700,000											$ 648,700,000
1.875% Senior Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal amount of debt | €																€ 700,000,000.0
Debt instrument, interest rate	1.875%											1.875%	1.875%			1.875%
Interest rate of debt, effective percentage																2.10%
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications, before tax												$ 50,900,000	$ 12,800,000
3.00% Senior Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal amount of debt						$ 250,000,000.0
Debt instrument, interest rate	3.00%					3.00%						3.00%	3.00%					3.00%
Interest rate of debt, effective percentage						3.18%												3.18%
4.15% Senior Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal amount of debt						$ 425,000,000.0
Debt instrument, interest rate	4.15%					4.15%						4.15%	4.15%					4.15%
Interest rate of debt, effective percentage						5.06%												5.06%
Number of semi annual coupon payments | payment																				20
4.50% Senior Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal amount of debt																						$ 350,000,000.0
Debt instrument, interest rate	4.50%											4.50%	4.50%									4.50%
Interest rate of debt, effective percentage																						4.70%
5.10% Senior Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal amount of debt																							$ 325,000,000.0
Debt instrument, interest rate													5.10%										5.10%
Interest rate of debt, effective percentage																							5.19%
Repayments of long-term debt			$ 325,000,000
5.45% Senior Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal amount of debt						$ 350,000,000.0
Debt instrument, interest rate	5.45%					5.45%						5.45%	5.45%					5.45%
Interest rate of debt, effective percentage						5.50%												5.50%
4.625% Senior Notes
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal amount of debt				$ 1,250,000,000
Debt instrument, interest rate				4.625%
Interest rate of debt, effective percentage				3.95%
Unamortized premium		$ 38,000,000		$ 43,700,000
Debt instrument, redemption price, percentage		103.469%
Payments of debt premium		$ 43,300,000
Loss on early extinguishment of debt												$ 5,400,000
364 Day Facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal amount of debt	$ 300,000,000											300,000,000
Five Year Facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Principal amount of debt	$ 950,000,000											$ 950,000,000
Long-term debt principal payment amount prior to second anniversary of funding, percentage	1.25%											1.25%
Long-term debt principal payment amount on or after second anniversary of funding, percentage	2.50%											2.50%
Commercial Paper
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Commercial paper notes	$ 351,300,000											$ 351,300,000
Weighted-average interest rate	1.07%											1.07%
Debt instrument maturity period												29 days
Line of Credit
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Revolving credit facility, maximum borrowing capacity	$ 256,901,000											$ 256,901,000
Borrowings outstanding under credit facility	$ 98,900,000											$ 98,900,000	$ 27,100,000
Average interest rate on borrowings	0.74%											0.74%	0.83%	0.76%
Maximum | Commercial Paper
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Commercial paper notes																					$ 750,000,000.0
Revolving Credit Facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repayments of long-term debt									$ 250,000,000
Interest rate margin	1.30%
Revolving credit facility, maximum borrowing capacity								$ 1,000,000,000							$ 1,000,000,000.0
Debt covenant ratio, maximum debt to EBITDA				3.50				3.50
Debt covenant								20.00%
Proceeds from borrowings of other long-term debt										$ 250,000,000
Revolving Credit Facility | Minimum
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate margin								1.00%
Revolving Credit Facility | Maximum
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate margin								1.70%
Rockwood Holdings, Inc. | Revolving Credit Facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt covenant ratio, maximum debt to EBITDA				4.50
Debt covenant ratio, maximum debt to EBITDA, quarterly reduction following completion of merger, number of quarters				4
Debt covenant ratio, maximum debt to EBITDA, quarterly reduction following completion of merger				0.25
Senior Unsecured Cash Bridge Facility | Bridge Loan
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repayments of long-term debt										800,000,000
Proceeds from borrowings of other long-term debt										$ 800,000,000
Weighted-average interest rate										1.67%
Additional borrowing capacity amount																	$ 1,150,000,000
Bridge Loan
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Bridge loan fees													$ 19,000,000
Bridge loan fees expensed in period												$ 2,300,000	16,700,000
Short-term Debt | Term Loan
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repayments of long-term debt									$ 183,500,000	$ 816,500,000
Proceeds from borrowings of other long-term debt										$ 1,000,000,000
Weighted-average interest rate									1.67%
Debt instrument maturity period												364 days
Additional borrowing capacity amount																			$ 1,000,000,000.0
Interest Rate Swap | JP Morgan
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Derivative, notional amount																				$ 325,000,000.0
Derivative, fixed interest rate																				3.281%
Payment for settlement of interest rate swap							$ 33,400,000
Forward Contracts
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Derivative, notional amount	$ 217,700,000											$ 217,700,000	$ 479,900,000
Other comprehensive income (loss) before reclassifications, before tax					$ 5,200,000
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) | September 2015 Term Loan Agreement
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate margin												1.375%
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) | Minimum | September 2015 Term Loan Agreement
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate margin												1.00%
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) | Maximum | September 2015 Term Loan Agreement
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate margin												1.875%
Federal funds rate | September 2015 Term Loan Agreement
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate margin												0.50%
One-Month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) | September 2015 Term Loan Agreement
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate margin												1.00%
Base Rate Additional Margin | Minimum | September 2015 Term Loan Agreement
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate margin												0.00%
Base Rate Additional Margin | Maximum | September 2015 Term Loan Agreement
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Interest rate margin												0.875%
Net Investment Hedge | Forward Contracts
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Derivative, notional amount | €																		€ 700,000,000.0
Number of tranches | tranche						2
Derivative notional amount per tranche | €																		€ 350,000,000.0
Subsequent Event | 364 Day Facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repayments of long-term debt											$ 300,000,000
Subsequent Event | Five Year Facility
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repayments of long-term debt											$ 31,000,000