Acquisitions and Joint Ventures - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			1 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Oct. 14, 2011 Non-compete agreements	Feb. 13, 2012 Temple-Inland Inc. T	Sep. 30, 2012 Temple-Inland Inc.	Mar. 31, 2012 Temple-Inland Inc.	Sep. 30, 2012 Temple-Inland Inc.	Sep. 30, 2012 Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills Limited	Oct. 14, 2011 Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills Limited	Oct. 08, 2011 Andhra Pradesh Paper Mills Limited Acquisition Related Additional Tender Offer	Sep. 30, 2012 Olmuksa Joint Venture	Dec. 31, 2011 Shandong IP & Sun Food Packaging Co., Ltd.	Dec. 31, 2011 Sun Food Packaging Co., Ltd. Shandong IP & Sun Food Packaging Co., Ltd.	Dec. 31, 2011 Parent Company Shandong IP & Sun Food Packaging Co., Ltd.
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Outstanding common stock acquired, price per share				$ 32.00
Acquisition of businesses, cash paid				$ 3,700					$ 226	$ 105
Acquisition of business, debt assumed				700
Mills required to be divested				3
Tons of aggregate capacity to be divested				970,000
Number of months within which mills are required to be divested				4 months
Number of 30-day extensions related to timeframes in which mills are required to be divested				2
Number of days of extensions of timeframes within which mills are required to be divested				30 days
Write-up of inventory						20	20
Write-up of inventory, after tax						12
Integration costs associated with acquisition					58		136
Integration costs associated with acquisition, after taxes					34		89
Acquisition of business, purchase price			58
Percentage of outstanding shares acquired									53.50%	21.50%
Deposited in escrow account		25
Increase in goodwill due to increase in purchase price of AAPM								21
Agreement to purchase stake in Joint Venture											56
Cash paid to purchase interest in joint venture														55
Percentage of interest acquired									75.00%				45.00%	55.00%
Land-use rights, value													28
Combined production capacity, tons												500,000
Gain on bargain purchase price adjustment	$ (7)