Basis of Presentation (Policies)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2013
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Management's Estimates and Assumptions	Management’s Estimates and Assumptions In preparing our financial statements, we make numerous estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in these financial statements and accompanying notes. We must make these estimates and assumptions because certain information that we use is dependent on future events, cannot be calculated with a high degree of precision from data available or simply cannot be readily calculated based on generally accepted methodologies. In preparing our financial statements, the more critical and subjective areas that deal with the greatest amount of uncertainty relate to our accounting for our long-lived assets, including recoverability, landfill development costs, and final capping, closure and post-closure costs; our valuation allowances for accounts receivable and deferred tax assets; our liabilities for potential litigation, claims and assessments; our liabilities for environmental remediation, employee benefit plans, deferred taxes and uncertain tax positions; our self-insurance reserves; and our estimates of the fair values of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in any acquisition. Each of these is discussed in more detail in our description of our significant accounting policies in Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. Our actual results may differ significantly from our estimates.

Basis of Presentation (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

Management’s Estimates and Assumptions

In preparing our financial statements, we make numerous estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in these financial statements and accompanying notes. We must make these estimates and assumptions because certain information that we use is dependent on future events, cannot be calculated with a high degree of precision from data available or simply cannot be readily calculated based on generally accepted methodologies. In preparing our financial statements, the more critical and subjective areas that deal with the greatest amount of uncertainty relate to our accounting for our long-lived assets, including recoverability, landfill development costs, and final capping, closure and post-closure costs; our valuation allowances for accounts receivable and deferred tax assets; our liabilities for potential litigation, claims and assessments; our liabilities for environmental remediation, employee benefit plans, deferred taxes and uncertain tax positions; our self-insurance reserves; and our estimates of the fair values of assets acquired and liabilities assumed in any acquisition. Each of these is discussed in more detail in our description of our significant accounting policies in Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. Our actual results may differ significantly from our estimates.