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Income Taxes - Income Tax - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) | 12 Months Ended |  |  |
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Dec. 31, 2014 | Dec. 31, 2013 | Dec. 31, 2012 | Dec. 31, 2011
Income Taxes [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Valuation allowance on deferred tax asset | 30,768,000 us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance |  | $ 33,757,000 us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance |  | $ 49,562,000 us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance | $ 36,419,000 us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance
Statutory Accounting Practices, Portion of Excess Retained Earnings Not Taxed | 900,000,000 us-gaap_StatutoryAccountingPracticesPortionOfExcessRetainedEarningsNotTaxed |  |  |  |  |
Unrecognized tax benefits, income tax penalties and interest accrued | 300,000 us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesAndInterestAccrued |  | 700,000 us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIncomeTaxPenaltiesAndInterestAccrued |  |  |
Assets offsetting unrecognized tax benefits | 22,100,000 alb_AssetsOffsettingUnrecognizedTaxBenefits |  | 25,700,000 alb_AssetsOffsettingUnrecognizedTaxBenefits |  |  |
Unrecognized tax benefits net of offsetting assets | 2,900,000 alb_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsNetOfOffsettingAssets |  | 3,400,000 alb_UnrecognizedTaxBenefitsNetOfOffsettingAssets |  |  |
Deferred tax assets carryover, valuation allowance | 30,768,000 us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance |  | 33,757,000 us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance |  | 49,562,000 us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance | 36,419,000 us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance
Liabilities related to uncertain tax position | 25,340,000 us-gaap_LiabilityForUncertainTaxPositionsNoncurrent | [1] | 29,834,000 us-gaap_LiabilityForUncertainTaxPositionsNoncurrent | [1] |  |
Unrecognized tax benefits | 24,969,000 us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefits |  | 29,143,000 us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefits |  | 28,398,000 us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefits | 29,789,000 us-gaap_UnrecognizedTaxBenefits
Maximum decrease in the liability related to uncertain tax positions | 700,000 us-gaap_SignificantChangeInUnrecognizedTaxBenefitsIsReasonablyPossibleAmountOfUnrecordedBenefit |  |  |  |  |
Domestic Country |  |  |  |  |  |
Income Taxes [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Domestic credit available to offset future payments of income taxes | 35,800,000 us-gaap_TaxCreditCarryforwardDeferredTaxAsset / us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis = us-gaap_DomesticCountryMember |  |  |  |  |
Valuation allowance on deferred tax asset | 2,900,000 us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance / us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis = us-gaap_DomesticCountryMember |  |  |  |  |
Net operating loss carryovers | 27,700,000 us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwards / us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis = us-gaap_DomesticCountryMember |  |  |  |  |
Deferred tax assets carryover, valuation allowance | 2,900,000 us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance / us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis = us-gaap_DomesticCountryMember |  |  |  |  |
Foreign Country |  |  |  |  |  |
Income Taxes [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Valuation allowance on deferred tax asset | 2,500,000 us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance / us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis = us-gaap_ForeignCountryMember |  |  |  |  |
Net operating loss carryovers | 258,700,000 us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwards / us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis = us-gaap_ForeignCountryMember |  |  |  |  |
Operating loss carryover, valuation allowance | 93,100,000 us-gaap_OperatingLossCarryforwardsValuationAllowance / us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis = us-gaap_ForeignCountryMember |  |  |  |  |
Deferred tax assets carryover, valuation allowance | 2,500,000 us-gaap_DeferredTaxAssetsValuationAllowance / us-gaap_IncomeTaxAuthorityAxis = us-gaap_ForeignCountryMember |  |  |  |  |
Minimum | Domestic Country |  |  |  |  |  |
Income Taxes [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Tax credit carryforward expiration year | 2016 |  |  |  |  |
Operating loss carryforwards, expiration date | Jan. 01, 2020 |  |  |  |  |
Maximum | Domestic Country |  |  |  |  |  |
Income Taxes [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |
Tax credit carryforward expiration year | 2024 |  |  |  |  |
Operating loss carryforwards, expiration date | Dec. 31, 2027 |  |  |  |  |
[1] | See Note 19, “Income Taxes.”

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