EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE - Computation of Basic and Diluted Net Income Per Share (Detail) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2015
Numerator:
Net income	$ 76,786	$ 28,940
Less: mandatory convertible preferred stock dividend	10,106	0
Net Income Attributable to Stericycle, Inc. Common Shareholders	$ 66,680	$ 28,940
Denominator:
Denominator for basic earnings per share-weighted average shares (in shares)	84,705,000	85,037,823
Effect of diluted securities:
Employee stock based awards (in shares)	1,140,501	1,319,183
Mandatory convertible preferred stock (in shares)	0	0
Denominator for diluted earnings per share-adjusted weighted average shares and after assumed exercises (in shares)	85,845,501	86,357,006
Earnings per share ? Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.79	$ 0.34
Earnings per share ? Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.78	$ 0.34
Series A preferred stock
Effect of diluted securities:
Antidilutive shares excluded from computation of diluted earnings per share (in shares)	5,651,376