Organization, Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012 Landfill Agreement	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Organization And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of life-of-site landfills for which the Company is responsible for final capping, closure and post-closure maintenance obligations	5
Number of life-of-site landfills	6
Discount rate for purposes of computing layers for final capping, closure and post-closure obligations	5.75%	5.75%
Inflation rate for purposes of computing layers for final capping, closure and post-closure obligations	2.50%	2.50%
Life of Company's owned landfills and landfills operated under life of site operating agreements min range	5 years
Life of Company's owned landfills and landfills operated under life of site operating agreements max range	240 years
Average remaining landfill life based on permitted capacity, projected annual disposal volumes and probable expansion capacity	48 years
Restricted asset balance for purposes of securing our performance of future final capping, closure and post-closure obligations	$ 32,457
Cell Processing Reserve, current	6,442
Cell Processing Reserve, noncurrent	2,043
Perpetual revenue growth rate	3.50%
Weighted average cost of capital	5.70%
Impairment charges on goodwill or indefinite lived intangible assets	The Company determined that no impairment existed as of December 31, 2012 or 2011, and, therefore, there were no write-downs to any of its goodwill or indefinite-lived intangible assets.
Number of interest rate swap agreements	3
Number of fuel hedge agreements	1
Contractual life of warrants	5 years
Equity-based compensation expense	17,289	11,879	11,331
Equity-based compensation expense, net of taxes	11,803	7,365	7,033
Unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested restricted stock unit awards	22,475
Weighted average remaining vesting period	1 year 28 days
Advertising costs	3,737	3,679	4,171
Accrual for self insured liabilities	$ 43,935	$ 40,137
Minimum
Organization And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Expected term of related agreements	1 year
Maximum
Organization And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Expected term of related agreements	56 years