Commitments and Contingencies Contingencies Environmental (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended																		0 Months Ended		0 Months Ended			0 Months Ended
	Aug. 31, 2014		Aug. 31, 2013		Aug. 31, 2014 Corporate	Aug. 31, 2013 Corporate	Aug. 31, 2014 Metals Recycling Business		Aug. 31, 2013 Metals Recycling Business		Aug. 31, 2014 Auto Parts Business		Aug. 31, 2013 Auto Parts Business		Aug. 31, 2014 Steel Manufacturing Business T	Aug. 31, 2014 Portland Harbor Superfund Site	Mar. 30, 2012 Portland Harbor Superfund Site alternatives	Aug. 31, 2014 Other Metals Recycling Business Sites	Mar. 30, 2012 Minimum Portland Harbor Superfund Site	Aug. 31, 2014 Minimum Portland Harbor Superfund Site potentially_responsible_party	Mar. 30, 2012 Maximum Portland Harbor Superfund Site	Mar. 30, 2012 Potential Responsible Parties Minimum Portland Harbor Superfund Site	Mar. 30, 2012 Potential Responsible Parties Maximum Portland Harbor Superfund Site	Mar. 30, 2012 Lower Willamette Group Portland Harbor Superfund Site
Accrual for Environmental Loss Contingencies [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance	$ 49,794,000		$ 47,059,000		$ 500,000	$ 0	$ 30,520,000		$ 30,859,000		$ 18,774,000		$ 16,200,000			$ 1,000,000		$ 29,000,000
Liabilities Established (Released), Net	(648,000)	[1]	3,005,000	[1]	0	500,000	199,000	[1]	(69,000)	[1]	(847,000)	[1]	2,574,000	[1]
Payments and Other	(797,000)		(270,000)		(112,000)	0	(580,000)		(270,000)		(105,000)		0
Ending balance	48,349,000		49,794,000		388,000	500,000	30,139,000		30,520,000		17,822,000		18,774,000		0	1,000,000		29,000,000
Short-Term	1,062,000		754,000		87,000		421,000				554,000
Long-Term	47,287,000		49,040,000		301,000		29,718,000				17,268,000
Accrual for Environmental Loss Contingencies, Increase (Decrease) for Acquisitions and Divestitures			3,000,000
Number of Potentially Responsible Parties																				80
Site Contingency Number of Years For Feasibility Study																								10 years
Feasibility Study Investigation Costs																								100,000,000
Site Contingency Number of Remedial Alternatives																	10
Site Contingency Least Costly Remediation Plan																						170,000,000	250,000,000
Site Contingency Most Costly Remediation Plan																						$ 1,080,000,000	$ 1,760,000,000
Site Contingency, Estimated Time Frame to Remediate																			2 years		28 years
Annual production capacity															950,000
Permit Expiration Date															Feb. 01, 2018

[1] During fiscal 2013, the Company recorded $3 million in purchase accounting for environmental liabilities related to properties acquired or leased in connection with business combinations. Amounts recorded in purchase accounting in fiscal 2014 were immaterial.