DIVESTITURES / SPINOFF (Narrative) (Details)	3 Months Ended				9 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 CNY (¥)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Jul. 01, 2014 shares
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds from spinoff					$ 0	$ 385,000,000
Impairment of long-lived assets to be disposed of			$ 186,000,000	$ 0	186,000,000	0
xpedx divestiture [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds from spinoff							$ 411,000,000
Cash provided by (used in) operating activities, discontinued operations						29,000,000
Cash provided by (used for) investment activities - discontinued operations						3,000,000
Veritiv [Member] | International Paper Employees [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Common stock, shares, issued | shares								8,160,000
Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations [Member] | IP-Sun JV [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Assets, Fair Value Disclosure			$ 23,000,000.00		$ 23,000,000.00
Percentage of equity interest			55.00%		55.00%
Impairment of long-lived assets to be disposed of			$ 186,000,000.00		$ 186,000,000.00
Impairment of long-lived assets to be disposed of, after tax			125,000,000.00
Income (loss) from individually significant component disposed of or held-for-sale, excluding discontinued operations, attributable to parent, before income tax			(208,000,000.00)	(11,000,000.00)	(238,000,000.00)	(33,000,000.00)
Income (loss) from individually significant component disposed of or held-for-sale, excluding disontinued operations, attributable to noncontrolling interest			(9,000,000.00)	$ (2,000,000.00)	(19,000,000.00)	$ (7,000,000.00)
Total assets held for sale			1,095,000,000		1,095,000,000
Total liabilities held for sale			$ 943,000,000		$ 943,000,000
Subsequent Event [Member] | Disposal Group, Held-for-sale, Not Discontinued Operations [Member] | IP-Sun JV [Member]
Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Additional Disclosures by Disposal Groups, Including Discontinued Operations [Line Items]
Proceeds from spinoff	$ 23,000,000.00	¥ 149,000,000.00