EARNINGS PER COMMON SHARE - Computation of Basic and Diluted Net Income Per Share (Detail) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015
Numerator:
Net income attributable to Stericycle, Inc.	$ 64,795	$ 69,449	$ 187,615	$ 186,219
Less: mandatory convertible preferred stock dividend	9,726		29,853
Less: gain on repurchase of preferred stock	(6,467)		(7,747)
Net Income Attributable to Stericycle, Inc. Common Shareholders	$ 61,536	$ 69,449	$ 165,509	$ 186,219
Denominator:
Denominator for basic earnings per share-weighted average shares (in shares)	85,044,303	84,884,599	84,881,452	84,960,955
Effect of diluted securities:
Employee stock based awards (in shares)	526,226	1,235,716	808,073	1,273,904
Mandatory convertible preferred stock (in shares)	0	0	0	0
Denominator for diluted earnings per share-adjusted weighted average shares and after assumed exercises (in shares)	85,570,529	86,120,315	85,689,525	86,234,859
Earnings per share - Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.72	$ 0.82	$ 1.95	$ 2.19
Earnings per share - Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.72	$ 0.81	$ 1.93	$ 2.16
Antidilutive shares excluded from computation of diluted earnings per share (in shares)	5,495,861		5,590,105