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Nature of Operations	12 Months Ended
Nature of Operations	Aug. 31, 2015
Nature of Operations [Abstract]
Nature of Operations	Nature of Operations Founded in 1906, Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. (the “Company”), an Oregon corporation, is one of North America’s largest recyclers of ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal including end-of-life vehicles and a manufacturer of finished steel products. Prior to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, the Company's internal organizational and reporting structure supported three operating and reportable segments: the Metals Recycling Business ("MRB"), the Auto Parts Business ("APB") and the Steel Manufacturing Business ("SMB"). In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, in accordance with its plan announced in April 2015, the Company combined and integrated its auto parts and metals recycling businesses into a single operating platform. This resulted in a realignment of how the Chief Executive Officer, who is considered the Company's chief operating decision maker, reviews performance and makes decisions on resource allocation. The change in the Company's internal organizational and reporting structure resulted in the formation of a new operating and reportable segment, the Auto and Metals Recycling ("AMR") business, replacing the former MRB and APB segments. The Company began reporting on this new segment in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015 as reflected in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The segment data for the comparable periods presented has been recast to conform to the current period presentation for all activities of AMR. Recasting this historical information did not have an impact on the Company's consolidated financial performance for any of the periods presented. AMR buys, collects, processes, recycles, sells and brokers scrap metal through its operation of one of the largest metals recycling businesses in North America and operates one of the country's leading networks of self-service used auto parts stores which supplies AMR's shredding facilities with autobodies that are processed into saleable recycled metal. SMB purchases recycled metal from AMR and uses its mini-mill to process the recycled metal into finished steel products. As of August 31, 2015, all of the Company’s facilities were located in the United States (“U.S.”) and its territories and Canada.