DIVESTITURE (Details) - Allstate - Disposed of by Sale - USD ($)	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Apr. 25, 2016	Nov. 01, 2015
Divestiture
Amount received at closing and after post-closing adjustments			$ 827,000	$ 58,800,000
Post-closing adjustments	$ 0
Gain (loss) on divestiture		$ (542,000)

Represents post-closing adjustments made to the value of the divesture.

No definition available.

Name:	ecol_DisposalGroupAdjustmentsToValueOfDivestiture
Namespace Prefix:	ecol_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of consideration received or receivable for the disposal of assets and liabilities, including discontinued operation.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DisposalGroupIncludingDiscontinuedOperationConsideration
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount before tax of gain (loss) recognized on the sale or disposal of a disposal group. Excludes discontinued operations.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 5
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=51824106&loc=d3e2443-110228

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 360
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=51719941&loc=d3e2941-110230

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_DisposalGroupNotDiscontinuedOperationGainLossOnDisposal
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- 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.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_IncomeStatementBalanceSheetAndAdditionalDisclosuresByDisposalGroupsIncludingDiscontinuedOperationsAxis=ecol_AllstateMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_DisposalGroupClassificationAxis=us-gaap_DisposalGroupDisposedOfBySaleNotDiscontinuedOperationsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: