CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF (LOSS) INCOME - USD ($) shares in Millions, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2018
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 833.1	$ 854.9	$ 2,509.0	$ 2,633.2
Cost of revenues	537.8	519.4	1,614.0	1,585.9
Gross profit	295.3	335.5	895.0	1,047.3
Selling, general and administrative expenses	247.4	267.2	805.1	851.1
Held-for-sale impairments	82.4		82.4	11.4
Goodwill impairment			20.9
(Loss) income from operations	(34.5)	68.3	(13.4)	184.8
Interest expense, net	(29.9)	(27.7)	(91.1)	(77.3)
Loss on early extinguishment of debt			(23.1)
Other expense, net	(3.2)	(6.2)	(7.2)	(6.8)
(Loss) income before income taxes	(67.6)	34.4	(134.8)	100.7
Income tax benefit (expense)	8.6	(10.9)	8.0	(27.1)
Net (loss) income	(59.0)	23.5	(126.8)	73.6
Net (income) loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	(0.2)		(0.7)	0.1
Net (loss) income attributable to Stericycle, Inc.	(59.2)	23.5	(127.5)	73.7
Mandatory convertible preferred stock dividend		(8.4)		(25.5)
Gain on repurchases of preferred stock		2.4		16.9
Net (loss) income attributable to Stericycle, Inc. common shareholders	$ (59.2)	$ 17.5	$ (127.5)	$ 65.1
(Loss) earnings per common share attributable to Stericycle, Inc. common shareholders:
Basic	$ (0.65)	$ 0.20	$ (1.40)	$ 0.76
Diluted	$ (0.65)	$ 0.20	$ (1.40)	$ 0.76
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding:
Basic	91.1	86.7	91.0	85.9
Diluted	91.1	86.8	91.0	86.1