Condensed Consolidated Statements of Net Income (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 506,100	$ 481,710
Operating expenses:
Cost of operations	281,123	263,061
Selling, general and administrative	58,144	55,647
Depreciation	57,307	55,817
Amortization of intangibles	6,999	6,737
Impairments and other operating charges	662	525
Operating income	101,865	99,923
Interest expense	(15,697)	(16,910)
Other income (expense), net	(220)	142
Income before income tax provision	85,948	83,155
Income tax provision	(33,867)	(33,932)
Net income	52,081	49,223
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(257)	(208)
Net income attributable to Waste Connections	$ 51,824	$ 49,015
Earnings per common share attributable to Waste Connections' common stockholders:
Basic	$ 0.42	$ 0.40
Diluted	$ 0.42	$ 0.39
Shares used in the per share calculations:
Basic	124,008,687	123,963,001
Diluted	124,367,668	124,714,097
Cash dividends per common share	$ 0.13	$ 0.115