Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended															12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2013	Aug. 31, 2014	Aug. 31, 2013	Aug. 31, 2012	Aug. 31, 2013 Metals Recycling Business	Aug. 31, 2014 Minimum	Aug. 31, 2014 Minimum Metals Recycling Business	Aug. 31, 2014 Minimum Machinery and equipment	Aug. 31, 2014 Minimum Land improvements	Aug. 31, 2014 Minimum Buildings and leasehold improvements	Aug. 31, 2014 Minimum Office equipment	Aug. 31, 2014 Minimum Enterprise Resource Planning (“ERP”) systems	Aug. 31, 2014 Maximum Metals Recycling Business	Aug. 31, 2014 Maximum Machinery and equipment	Aug. 31, 2014 Maximum Land improvements	Aug. 31, 2014 Maximum Buildings and leasehold improvements	Aug. 31, 2014 Maximum Office equipment	Aug. 31, 2014 Maximum Enterprise Resource Planning (“ERP”) systems	Aug. 31, 2014 Class A Common Stock	Aug. 31, 2014 Class B Common Stock	Aug. 31, 2014 Series A Preferred Stock	Aug. 31, 2013 Scenario, Previously Reported [Member]	Aug. 31, 2013 Restatement Adjustment	Nov. 30, 2013 Prior Year Statement of Cash Flows Classification Error
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Quantifying Misstatement in Current Year Financial Statements, Amount																								$ 24,700,000
Quantifying Prior Year Misstatements Corrected in Current Year Financial Statements [Abstract]
Purchase of noncontrolling interest			0																			(24,734,000)	24,734,000
Net cash used in investing activities		(41,231,000)	(112,450,000)	(84,266,000)																		(137,184,000)	24,734,000
Purchase of noncontrolling interest		0	(24,734,000)	0																		0	(24,734,000)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities		(88,174,000)	(4,147,000)	(120,052,000)																		20,587,000	(24,734,000)
Number of days used to determine short term highly liquid investments treatment as cash equivalents (in days)		90 days
Book Overdrafts	31,000,000	35,000,000	31,000,000
Allowance for Doubtful Accounts Receivable	3,000,000	3,000,000	3,000,000
Shipment period (in days)							30 days						60 days
Useful life (in years)								3 years	3 years	5 years	2 years	11 years		40 years	35 years	40 years	20 years	17 years
Other asset impairment charge		532,000	313,000
Number of equity method investments	5	5	5
Equity Method Investment, Ownership Percentage	50.00%	50.00%	50.00%
Undistributed Earnings from Equity Method Investees	11,000,000	10,000,000	11,000,000
Joint venture partnership investment impairment		0	2,411,000
Impairment of contractual receivable	8,000,000	8,000,000	8,000,000
Impairment of long-lived assets		928,000	2,526,000
Other Asset Impairment Charges [Abstract]
Investment in joint venture partnership		0	2,411,000
Contractual receivable		0	7,803,000
Assets held for sale		928,000	2,526,000
Other		532,000	313,000
Total	13,000,000	1,460,000	13,053,000	0	13,000,000
Workers' Compensation Liability	10,000,000	9,000,000	10,000,000
Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest Purchase Date		Mar. 08, 2013
Number Of Votes Per Share Of Common Stock																			1	1
Number Of Shares Class B Common Stock Convertible To																			1
Number of Shares of Common Stock Reserved For Class B Stock																			1
Number Of Preferred Share Purchase Rights Per Share of Common Stock		1
Percent Of Common Stock Required To Be Acquired To Exercise Preferred Share Purchase Rights						15.00%
Class Of Warrant Or Right Number Of Shares Conversion Rate																					0.001
Rights Expiration Date		Mar. 21, 2016
Class of Warrant or Right, Exercise Price of Warrants or Rights																					110
Cash, FDIC Insured Amount		250,000
Customer Issued Letters Of Credit	94,000,000	74,000,000	94,000,000
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax		857,000	0	0
Discontinued Operation, Tax Effect of Adjustment to Prior Period Gain (Loss) on Disposal		$ 1,000,000