The Greif Green Tool continues to be an important tool for us to communicate our innovations and sustainable products to our customers. Since its inception, we have partnered with many of our key global accounts to evaluate the GHG emissions associated with different packaging options, product end-of-life scenarios and transportation options. In 2021 we continued to engage with our customers using the Greif Green Tool providing more complex analyses in support of lowering their carbon footprint through packaging and logistic optimization solutions. In 2022, we will update the tool with our latest product information, ensuring data and product classifications are up to date. As a result of the update, the tool will include more life cycle services, reconditioning and recycling data.

In 2021, we also developed the Greif Green Tool Lite. As our customers continue to set scope 3 targets, the demand for product emissions data has only increased. We designed the Green Tool Lite to provide answers to our customers more quickly. The Greif Green Tool Lite provides carbon footprint and reduction metrics that our customers can achieve by switching to a more sustainable product. Customers can use the tool for our most-sold IBCs and fibre, plastic and steel drum products. We will continue to advance our digital services to provide our customers innovative solutions and the best customer service experience in industrial packaging.

Our innovation priorities vary based on the specific needs of each of our business units and their customers. In 2021, our Global Industrial Packaging (GIP) business continued to institute multiple sustainable product projects to reduce material use, and we will begin to look into zero carbon packaging options. Similarly, our Flexible Products & Services (FPS) business also advanced multiple sustainable product projects to reduce material use that, collectively, are estimated to generate 380 tons of material savings annually. The business unit also worked with our stakeholders to maintain our position as a market leader in food safety and meet emerging compliance requirements as part of our Food Safety Initiative. In 2019, we formalized our integrated ISO-certified food manufacturing practice program, which involves integrating basic food safety procedures into our quality management system. At the end of 2021, 100 percent of our GIP North America facilities were compliant with the new standards.

Our innovation efforts also address regionally specific needs and can go beyond our products. Greif’s Latin American (LATAM) offices are encouraging innovation in their working environment. In 2019, the team began hosting interactive and in-person innovation workshops to teach our colleagues about innovation and brainstorm not just product and process ideas, but innovations we can bring to our working environment to be a better and more attractive employer for current and future colleagues. In 2020, our LATAM team began conducting bi-weekly reviews with members of the innovation team to spread innovative practices that are already in place, identify new innovation opportunities and discuss non-product innovation opportunities to better serve our customers. Through these continued efforts, Greif LATAM developed a facetted side-wall design for lightweight drums and ECOEX jerrycans.

Across our Paper Packaging & Services (PPS) business we work in close collaboration with our customers to develop innovative solutions to meet their performance and sustainability needs. Each month, our core development and strategy team meets to discuss the progress of innovation projects within PPS and take action on any challenges. Quarterly, an innovation team meets to ensure continued progress against our innovation objectives. We continue to develop innovative, recycled material products that replace virgin-based products and remove plastic by incorporating our barrier coatings. Made of recyclable and/or compostable paperboard, our products provide customers with improved end-of-life solutions and advance our circular economy strategy. These products include paperboard for food grade packaging, food service items, beverage carriers and EasyPour® construction cores. By working with our customers to provide sustainable products, we reduced our and our customers’ carbon footprints, enhanced brand value by entering new markets and realized cost savings. PPS commercialized many such sustainable products in 2021 that have replaced over 50,000 tons of single-use plastic packaging and other non-recyclable products.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created challenges globally, but we have adopted new processes and procedures to conduct business efficiently and effectively while protecting the health and safety of our colleagues and partners. We have utilized online platforms to host conferences, virtual tours and forums. We have also held customer webinars to demonstrate changes to our products and processes, our life cycle services, sustainability, our product portfolio and other key topics.

In 2022, we will continue to have innovation at the core of our business practices. We plan to focus on new barrier technologies for plastics, jerrycan designs, PCR products, knock down drum offerings across specific markets in LATAM, anti-counterfeiting measures and Internet of Things technologies. We will also prioritize acquiring additional UN ratings for our products.