Consolidated Statements of Net Income (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2013
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 481,710	$ 449,892
Operating expenses:
Cost of operations	263,061	251,963
Selling, general and administrative	55,647	53,251
Depreciation	55,817	51,649
Amortization of intangibles	6,737	6,438
Gain on disposal of assets	(141)	(322)
Operating income	100,589	86,913
Interest expense	(16,910)	(19,012)
Other income (expense), net	(524)	742
Income before income tax provision	83,155	68,643
Income tax provision	(33,932)	(26,963)
Net income	49,223	41,680
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(208)	(124)
Net income attributable to Waste Connections	$ 49,015	$ 41,556
Earnings per common share attributable to Waste Connections' common stockholders:
Basic	$ 0.40	$ 0.34
Diluted	$ 0.39	$ 0.34
Shares used in the per share calculations:
Basic	123,963,001	123,380,799
Diluted	124,714,097	123,904,929
Cash dividends per common share	$ 0.115	$ 0.10