Governance, Policies & Partnerships
Governance
SUSTAINABILITY GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE
Corporate Policies
- Anti-Bribery Compliance Policy
- Anti-Harassment and Anti-Discrimination Policy
- Antitrust/Competition Compliance Policy
- Code of Business Conduct
- Conflict Minerals Policy
- Contractor Safety Policy
- Corporate Governance Guidelines
- Corrective Actions Policy
- Data Privacy Policy
- Economic and Trade Sanctions Policy
- Environmental Health and Safety Policy
- Equal Employment Opportunity & Diversity in the Workplace Policy
- Fair Treatment of Others Policy
- Global Quality Policy
- Human Rights Policy
- Insider Trading Policy
- IT Procurement and Services Policy
- Records Management and Retention Policy
- Relationships at Work Policy
- Supplier Code of Conduct
- Tobacco-Free Workplace Policy
Partnerships
Alliance to End Plastic Waste
In 2021, Greif joined the board of Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW) to expand our commitment to reduce waste and promote a circular economy. Since 2019, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste has rallied around 90 member companies, project partners, allies and supporters who are committed to ending plastic waste in the environment. Through this partnership, Greif will participate in a variety of work streams including Design for Circularity and Advanced Recovery & Recycling. We aim to bring the industrial packaging perspective to the group and partner with customers and other organizations to bolster our circular economy strategy. For more information about this partnership, please visit the Waste section of our sustainability report.
Operation Clean Sweep
To expand our commitment to reducing waste, in 2017, Greif became a signatory to Operation Clean Sweep (OCS). OCS is an international program originally designed by the plastics industry and supported by The British Plastics Federation and PlasticsEurope to prevent pellet, flake and powder loss and the potential introduction of pellets to the marine environment which creates litter and threatens sea life and wildlife. OCS helps each segment of the plastics industry, including resin producers, transporters, bulk terminal operators and plastics processors, implement good housekeeping and pellet, flake and powder containment practices towards achieving zero pellet, flake and powder loss.
For more information on our partnership with OCS, please visit our Waste page.
Pollinator Partnership
In 2009, our Soterra operations embarked on a multi-year study with the Pollinator Partnership and NAPCC, the world’s foremost experts on pollination issues, to learn how pollinators impact wildlife food availability on timber landscapes, the added value of hosting honey bees and beekeepers on the landscape and to discover the best management practice for ecosystem services on forest landscapes. For more information, please visit our Biodiversity page.
SmartWay
The SmartWay Transport Partnership is an innovative collaboration between the freight industry and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). It is a market-driven partnership aimed at helping businesses move goods in the cleanest, most efficient way possible. Its purpose is to accelerate the availability, adoption and market penetration of advanced fuel-efficient technologies and operational practices in the freight supply chain, while helping companies save fuel, lower costs and reduce adverse environmental impacts.
To improve efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our vehicle fleet, Greif joined the SmartWay Transport Partnership in 2009. For more information about our partnership, please see our Climate Strategy page.
UN Global Compact
Integrity and respect for people are Core Values at Greif, and we believe that social and environmental responsibility are aligned and essential for long-term sustainability. The United Nations Global Compact is a voluntary strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally-accepted Principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption.
We consider these Principles to be a natural extension of our Code of Conduct, which outlines our commitment to be open, honest and trustworthy in all dealings with all stakeholders. Our policies and procedures incorporate our commitment to human rights, freedom of association, environmental excellence and health and safety.
In April 2016, Greif became a signatory to the UN Global Compact, confirming our commitment to these Principles. Each year, we publish our Communication on Progress on the Ten Principles of the compact.
World Business Council for Sustainable Development
Greif has been a member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) since 2008, a CEO-led global association of approximately 200 of the most environmentally-responsible companies in the world. Member companies are committed to providing business leadership as a catalyst for change toward sustainable development. Members are drawn from more than 30 countries and 20 major industrial sectors. We signed on to the organization’s Manifesto for Energy Efficiency in Buildings (EEB). Additionally, we partnered with WBCSD to publish From Cradle to Grave: Greif’s Life Cycle Analysis, a case study on how we implement Life Cycle Analysis in our business. We also participate in WBCSD working groups:
- Factor 10 – focused on tackling the systemic and value-chain specific barriers towards a circular economy
- Plastics and Packaging Circularity (Co-Chairs) – focused on developing a transition roadmap to circularity for the industrial packaging sector
Trade Associations
As a global leader in industrial packaging, Greif participates in a variety of trade associations to discuss relevant issues and opportunities and to continue to advance the industry in a positive direction. Please review our Trade Associations for more information.
SUSTAINABILITY HIGHLIGHTS
~16,000
Colleagues
Our people—principled, intelligent and reliable—reaffirm our reputation for integrity every day with their every action.
145
Years of Experience
For the past 145 years, the world’s most important products have travelled around the world in Greif industrial packaging.
