Acquisitions (Summary of Consideration Transferred to Acquire Businesses and Amounts of Identifiable Assets Acquired, Liabilities Assumed and Noncontrolling Interests) (Detail) - USD ($)
$ in Thousands

Acquisitions (Summary of Consideration Transferred to Acquire Businesses and Amounts of Identifiable Assets Acquired, Liabilities Assumed and Noncontrolling Interests) (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		9 Months Ended
	Jun. 02, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Fair value of consideration transferred:
Cash		$ 394,002
Notes issued to sellers		13,460
Fair value of operations exchanged		81,097
Consideration transferred		545,517
Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed associated with businesses acquired:
Accounts receivable		19,312
Prepaid expenses and other current assets		4,336
Property and equipment		167,065
Indefinite-lived intangibles		5,830
Other assets		3,052
Deferred revenue		(9,657)
Other long-term liabilities		(1,080)
Deferred income taxes		(50,283)
Total identifiable net assets		236,486
Goodwill		309,031	$ 2,931,223
Accounts Payable and Accrued Liabilities [Member]
Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed associated with businesses acquired:
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities		(12,022)
Debt [Member]
Fair value of consideration transferred:
Liabilities incurred		56,958
Contingent Consideration [Member]
Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed associated with businesses acquired:
Other long-term liabilities		(35)
Other Acquisition [Member]
Fair value of consideration transferred:
Cash			13,703
Consideration transferred			13,703
Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed associated with businesses acquired:
Accounts receivable			521
Prepaid expenses and other current assets			477
Property and equipment			4,397
Other assets			261
Deferred revenue			(659)
Total identifiable net assets			8,987
Goodwill			4,716
Other Acquisition [Member] \| Accounts Payable and Accrued Liabilities [Member]
Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed associated with businesses acquired:
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities			(744)
Other Acquisition [Member] \| Contingent Consideration [Member]
Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed associated with businesses acquired:
Other long-term liabilities			(345)
Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. [Member]
Fair value of consideration transferred:
Shares issued		3,503,162
Less: cash acquired		(65,768)
Consideration transferred		5,232,436
Net fair value of consideration transferred		5,166,668
Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed associated with businesses acquired:
Accounts receivable		231,709
Prepaid expenses and other current assets		28,623
Property and equipment		2,063,011
Other assets		4,491
Deferred revenue		(35,635)
Other long-term liabilities		(185,774)
Deferred income taxes		(329,552)
Total identifiable net assets		2,143,083
Goodwill		3,023,585
Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. [Member] \| Restricted Assets [Member]
Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed associated with businesses acquired:
Other assets		16,551
Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. [Member] \| Accounts Payable and Accrued Liabilities [Member]
Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed associated with businesses acquired:
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities		(264,992)
Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. [Member] \| Debt [Member]
Fair value of consideration transferred:
Liabilities incurred	$ 1,729,274	1,729,274
Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. [Member] \| Contingent Consideration [Member]
Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed associated with businesses acquired:
Other long-term liabilities		(19,412)
Contracts [Member]
Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed associated with businesses acquired:
Intangibles		54,674
Contracts [Member] \| Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. [Member]
Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed associated with businesses acquired:
Intangibles		223,885
Customer Lists [Member]
Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed associated with businesses acquired:
Intangibles		28,033
Customer Lists [Member] \| Other Acquisition [Member]
Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed associated with businesses acquired:
Intangibles			$ 5,079
Customer Lists [Member] \| Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. [Member]
Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed associated with businesses acquired:
Intangibles		191,679
Other Intangibles [Member]
Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed associated with businesses acquired:
Intangibles		27,261
Other Intangibles [Member] \| Progressive Waste Solutions Ltd. [Member]
Recognized amounts of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed associated with businesses acquired:
Intangibles		$ 218,499