Represents the estimated aggregate amount of city services tax and penalties under dispute.

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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
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- Definition

Represents, for the city services tax and penalties under dispute, in the event of an adverse resolution, the additional exposure for interest, monetary adjustments and costs.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	bms
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the estimated aggregate amount of city services tax under dispute.

+ Details

Name:	bms_LossContingencyCityServicesTaxAssessments
Namespace Prefix:	bms
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the estimated aggregate amount of city services tax, penalties and interest under dispute.

+ Details

Name:	bms_LossContingencyCityServicesTaxPenaltyAndInterestAssessments
Namespace Prefix:	bms
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Represents the number of annulment actions filed.

+ Details

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Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Represents the number of sites for state law proceedings under environmental matters.

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- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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Legal Proceedings (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011 Y segment site	Aug. 16, 1999 Dixie Toga Sao Paulo city services tax for years 1991-1995 action	Sep. 30, 2011 Dixie Toga Sao Paulo city services tax for years 1991-1995	Sep. 30, 2011 Dixie Toga Sao Paulo city services tax for years 1996-2001	Sep. 30, 2011 Itap Bemis Ltda. Sao Paulo city services tax for years 1996-2001	Sep. 30, 2011 Sao Paulo city services tax for years 2004-2009
Loss contingencies
Number of sites for state law proceedings under environmental matters	16
Estimated city services tax			$ 59.1
Number of annulment actions filed		2
Estimated city services tax and penalties				28.7	8.9
Estimated increase in city service tax and penalties for interest, monetary adjustments and costs				135.5	46.9
Estimated city services tax, penalties and interest						$ 40.2