ACQUISITIONS AND DIVESTITURES - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Sep. 30, 2011	Jun. 30, 2011	Mar. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2010	Jun. 30, 2010	Mar. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011 Entity	Dec. 31, 2010 Entity	Dec. 31, 2009 Entity
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Number of acquisitions completed									45	33	23
Goodwill	$ 342,486,000				$ 203,003,000				$ 342,486,000	$ 203,003,000	$ 243,814,000
Tax deductable goodwill	50,600,000				49,600,000				50,600,000	49,600,000	73,300,000
Intangibles	206,775,000				113,632,000				206,775,000	113,632,000	99,183,000
Indefinite lived intangible assets, permits	14,500,000				16,500,000				14,500,000	16,500,000
Acquisition expenses	2,310,000	3,195,000	5,261,000	5,938,000	6,272,000	1,891,000	556,000	800,000	16,704,000	9,519,000
Estimated revenues from acquisitions									89,300,000
United States
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Goodwill	233,400,000								233,400,000
Brazil
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Business acquisition, ownership percentage acquired	82.50%				70.00%				82.50%	70.00%
Increase in ownership interest, description									We also increased our majority share in a previous acquisition in Brazil from 70% to 82.5%.
Mexico
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Business acquisition, ownership percentage sold	55.00%								55.00%
Proceed from sale of business									3,300,000
International countries
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Goodwill	109,100,000								109,100,000
Annual
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Estimated revenues from acquisitions									184,500,000
Customer relationships
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Finite lived intangible assets useful life, minimum									14
Finite lived intangible assets useful life, maximum									40
Tradenames
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Finite lived intangible assets useful life, minimum									15
Finite lived intangible assets useful life, maximum									40
Covenants not-to-compete
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Finite lived intangible assets useful life, minimum									2
Finite lived intangible assets useful life, maximum									10
Acquired Finite Lived Intangible Assets | Customer relationships
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Intangibles, amortizable	190,400,000								190,400,000
Finite lived intangible assets useful life, minimum									14
Finite lived intangible assets useful life, maximum									40
Acquired Finite Lived Intangible Assets | Tradenames
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Intangibles, amortizable	1,300,000								1,300,000
Finite lived intangible assets useful life, maximum									15
Acquired Finite Lived Intangible Assets | Covenants not-to-compete
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Intangibles, amortizable	$ 600,000								$ 600,000
Finite lived intangible assets useful life, maximum									5
Regulated waste management services | United States
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Number of acquisitions completed									20
Regulated waste management services | International
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Number of acquisitions completed									24
Regulated returns and recall management services | United States
Significant Acquisitions and Disposals [Line Items]
Number of acquisitions completed									1