Highlight Stories
In 2019 Greif’s GIP facility in Ghent, Belgium took steps to further improve awareness on quality by conducting “Quality Day,” a four-hour workshop with a dedicated focus on quality in products, processes and customer service. A total of 89 colleagues participated, going through specific interactive sessions designed to provide participants a different perspective on quality and how it can be improved. Many colleagues reported that they gained better understanding of their specific contributions towards quality and were re-energized to make a positive difference in improving overall customer satisfaction.
In 2014, our CAR data indicated that leaks were the most common quality complaint from customers. In response, we initiated a Zero-Leak Program to eliminate leaks from our products. When a leak complaint was received, it was escalated to the regional vice president and general manager and our engineering team was tasked with developing a concrete resolution to the problem and disseminating it to all facilities. Our focus on reducing leaks led to a 67 percent reduction in leak complaints from 2014 to 2018, as well as significant improvements in leakers in our Tri-Sure business.
In 2020 we kicked off a new global quality task force specifically to look at our most prominent customer issues related to product quality. Our focus was to analyze both external and internal factors to determine common trends. Through this we determined that our largest internal issues also correlated with our largest external issues. The largest customer issue continues to be product integrity. The group developed various action plans aimed at resolving these internal issues with the ultimate goal of reducing our largest customer issues. New metrics were created to keep track of the progress of these initiatives.
| Leaker Rate | FY 2019 | FY 2020 | FY 2021 |
| Asia Pacific | 0.37 | 0.14 | 0.29 |
| Europe, Middle East and Africa | 0.23 | 0.23 | 0.12 |
| North America | 0.22 | 0.22 | 0.16 |
| Latin America | – | – | 0.07 |
Greif’s Global Industrial Packaging facility in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia demonstrated customer service excellence when they rose to the occasion to solve a customer’s packaging crisis in the idle of the COVID-19 pandemic. An existing Greif customer discovered they were unable to secure unlined ultramarine blue drums, which were required to ship edible oil from one of Greif’s competitors. Since the facility did not offer that product at the time, the Petaling Jaya team quickly worked to prepare new artwork, obtain external drum color approval and create a new product stock keeping unit. The team immediately began production and secured transportation for the drums to meet the customer’s urgent need. Due to the responsiveness and ingenuity of the team in responding to this emergency, the customer has continued ordering the product from Greif.
Greif’s Dalton, Georgia, PPS Recycling facility works closely with local flooring manufacturing plants to provide recycling services for tubes and cores, a significant waste stream produced by the industry. These same flooring manufacturers are also customers of Greif’s recycled paperboard tubes and cores. When the price for old corrugated cardboard (OCC) dropped in 2019, it became uneconomical to recycle these tubes and cores at market price. Greif engaged with the flooring manufacturers to develop a sustainable, circular solution that keeps waste out of landfills and allows Greif to continue providing our customers with excellent service and 100 percent recycled paperboard. Under the new business model, Greif receives payment for managing recyclable waste streams allowing us to process these materials and then send to our paper mills to manufacture 100 percent recycled paperboard.
Greif’s 2021 Dempsey Award for Customer Service Excellence was awarded to our Greif adhesives operations within our Paper and Packaging Services business unit in Kernersville, NC and Atlanta, TX. This group earned a Customer Service Index Rating of 99.6 while facing a significant disruption in these plants’ supply chains in 2021. In February, Texas endured devastating winter storms, resulting in acetate emulsions, VAE, plasticizer and alcohol shortages. Despite the challenges, Greif adhesives operations maintained quick response times and innovative ideas. Our chemists worked weekly on replacement chemicals as various materials or additives became impossible to procure. Our plant manager collaborated with local and global sourcing colleagues to contract additional suppliers, eliminating our single-source dependency. Through all of the obstacles, 2021 was a record sales year for both adhesive plants.
CorrChoice GreenGuard provides customers a recyclable, repulpable and FDA compliant coated paper solution. A key customer was purchasing a triple wall corrugated container to maintain food quality. Greif worked with the customer to replace the plastic liner with our GreenGuard 200 paper coating. This change eliminated the need for the plastic liner – saving the customer time and labor costs – and made the shipping container 100 percent recyclable and repulpable.
Greif partnered with one of our global key accounts to resolve ordering process challenges and operational inefficiencies. Greif’s Global Supply Chain team, Warminster, Pennsylvania, facility and Global Account Lead partnered with the customer’s Operations Excellence and Logistics teams to design and pilot a simple-to-use Kanban process that triggers production only when product is needed. Within the first three months of implementation we achieved zero stock-outs, a seven-day lead-time reduction and a 25 percent reduction in inventory. The new process has also simplified ordering, improved visibility of customer demand for more stable production runs and improved Greif’s relationship with the customer.
In LATAM, we introduced PerforMAXXI, a web solution used for tracking deliveries to customers and monitoring real-time performance. PerforMAXXI is a mobile app on the delivery driver’s phone that provides customers updates on where their package is in the delivery process. The app utilizes Waze or Google Maps to assist the driver and will be updated to include digital road toll payments in the second phase. The app also enables communication with the driver throughout the trip, accurate measurement of on time delivery, and electronic proof of delivery via photo of the invoice signed by the customer. The app significantly streamlines the communication and delivery process.
Greif is pleased to be awarded the 2021 Supplier of the Year award from Nouryon for providing excellent support during the pandemic. We were recognized for our proactive business continuity planning for the Ekabox, a customized plastic container only produced in Falkenberg, Sweden. We experienced an equipment failure, however due to our risk management and business continuity planning we were able to move Ekabox production to a third-party manufacturer. As a result, we safeguarded Nouryon and their end customers’ business without any disruptions. Photo: Hans Vanwynsberghe (left), Greif’s Director of Global Key Accounts and Philippe Marty (right), Greif’s Vice President Global Commercial Excellence receive the award from Nouryon’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Charlie Shaver (middle).
In September 2021, Greif became a member of the Alliance to End Plastic Waste. 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. Greif joined this mission to partner with our customers and other organizations to bolster our circular economy strategy. We are the first industrial packaging firm to become a member to provide expertise from our unique perspective and be a leader in our industry. Membership requirements include investing in innovative projects to promote circular solutions. We will have more to share on this exciting development in 2022.
The Greif facility in Houston saw marked improvement in its ability to divert waste from landfill during 2021. The facility installed a de-chimer, a device designed to safely and efficiently remove the metal chimes which are used to secure the top and bottom of fibre drums. Once the chimes are removed, the fibre and metal can be directed to separate waste streams for recycling. Since the de-chimer’s installation in July 2021, the facility has diverted more than 90 percent of its waste from landfills. The facility sends the fibre to our PPS Recycling Group, further reducing the waste disposal cost.
During 2020, the Hadımköy team in Turkey developed a waste roadmap by assessing their waste streams and determining a path to reduce their waste going to the landfill. The Hadımköy team introduced separation bins for paper waste in production, separated leftover food waste and sent it to local animal shelters, and introduced separation bins for packaging and paper waste in the cafeteria. In total, these efforts led to a seven percent reduction in their waste to landfill. By the end of 2020, Hadımköy used the projects on their waste roadmap to further reduce their waste to landfill an additional five percent and already exceeded the corporate 2025 waste target. In 2021, Hadımköy further reduced their waste sent to landfill by an additional 15 percent from the previous year.
Greif is committed to using water-based exterior paints in our operations where possible, rather than high volatile organic compound (VOC) exterior paints. In Global Industrial Packaging (GIP) North America, eight out of our nine steel plants use water-based paints. In GIP China, the Greif Zhuhai plant has converted to over 75 percent water-based paints and, in 2021, they began testing the use of water-based regular drum liners in our products to further reduce the VOC impact of our products. The Greif Shanghai plant begun the conversion process in 2021 as well. In EMEA, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, and Poland use water-based paints alongside solvent-based paints.
In 2019, Greif’s Global Industrial Packaging (GIP) facility in Sweden received a customer complaint that jerrycans were being damaged during unpacking because the plastic film used to wrap the pallets was too tight and difficult to remove. In response, the facility tested a number of film alternatives that were easier to remove and posed less risk of damaging the cans and ultimately selected an alternative that reduced the use of film by 48 percent, saving 7,500 kg of materials annually. The transition also led to $12,000 USD savings and a 22,000 kg emission reduction. In order to scale the project, the team has updated the standard operating procedure for using similar films and have worked with our procurement team to update the supplier and material for the film.
Our GIP Flexibles Facility in Thirsk, UK has implemented a variety of initiatives related to recycling and reuse, in close collaboration with customers and suppliers. The facility introduced programs to reuse cardboard dividers, pallets, thread spools, solvent, bag on roll tubes and scrap wood. Our reuse initiatives include close collaboration with suppliers to return spools and cardboard dividers for them to reuse, reducing costs and environment impacts for both companies. We also work with our customers to collect pallets and tubes for our own reuse. The facility also recycles all plastic, cardboard, paper and solvent that cannot be reclaimed. These practices help reduce Greif’s footprint and can often reduce costs, such as incineration expenses.
Greif’s Pudahuel steel plant in Chile was our first facility in Latin America to operate on 100 percent renewable power. Through a two-year project, in partnership with energy provider IMELSA ENERGIA, the facility was able to move its entire electricity supply to 100 percent renewable sources. The facility produces large steel drums, conical drums and water bottles for the chemicals, lube oil and food and beverage markets. This switch advances our sustainability strategy, supports our 2030 GHG emissions reduction goal and helps support our customers’ Scope 3 emissions reductions goals.
In an attempt to lower Greif’s emissions of air pollutants such as Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Greif’s paperboard mills in Los Angeles, California and Fitchburg, Massachusetts replaced equipment with more energy efficient technology that reduces air pollutants. Operations in Massachusetts, alone, saved 96 tons of NOx and 27 tons of VOCs in a single year. The updates also allowed Greif to take advantage of Cap-and-Trade programs in California and Massachusetts that provide ERCs for similar activates. In 2019, Greif was awarded $1,037,100 in ERCs through these programs.
As part of our overarching goal of having more efficient and sustainable equipment, in 2018 we began transitioning our fleet of forklifts from being powered by combustion gasoline to electricity, which reduces our forklift emissions approximately 50 percent. Through 2021, we have converted 85 percent of our forklifts in EMEA to electricity power and realized a cost savings of $365,000. Due to the success of the program, and in support of our overall Renewable Forklift Policy, the program will be rolled out globally. In addition to the environmental benefits, the transition provides a safer working environment for our colleagues by reducing the need to keep containers of gasoline in our facilities.
Greif recently made a large-scale investment in a new blow molding machine used to manufacture Greif’s plastic jerrycans at our Casablanca, Morocco plant. The new machine uses up to 30 percent less energy than older generation machines while also delivering significantly higher productivity levels. The new equipment increases production capacity by up to 25 percent for our one- to five-liter bottles and is designed to optimize and reduce raw material usage, extending the environmental benefit of the machine beyond energy use.
Renewables, such as biomass, solar and wind energy, will play a major role in addressing the challenges of climate change over the long term. We are committed to testing and expanding the use of renewable energy technologies across our global operations when doing so is economically viable and in the best interest of our stakeholders. Across our global operations, we have installed over 6,900 solar panels capable of 1.87 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of solar production. Due to our continued investment, renewables now account for 12 percent of Greif’s energy use.
In North America, we have installed more than 2,000 solar panels in seven facilities, delivering 760,000 kWh of energy and saving more than $112,000 annually.
In 2016, three of our largest Brazilian plants began sourcing their energy partly through renewable resources. In 2017, we expanded the program to three additional plants in Brazil, reducing emissions by 70 percent and saving $1.4 million USD annually.
In April 2017, Greif’s Shanghai RIPS facility completed installation of solar panels, converting 15.4 percent of the facility’s electricity to a renewable source and saving over $16,000 USD annually. Throughout our China operations, we source renewable energy through 4,800 solar panels via energy purchase contracts.
Our Turkey FPS operations produce over two million kWh of energy through wind turbines and windmills.
In 2020 and 2021, we installed solar panels on the roof of our Israel facility. These panels provide emissions savings of 748 tons of CO2 annually, converting 12 percent of the facility’s annual energy consumption to clean solar energy and supporting reduced heating and cooling costs.
In 2021, solar panels at our two facilities in Ede, Netherlands produced over 1 million kWh of electricity.
To manage logistics in an environmentally-responsible manner, Greif uses carriers that are approved through the EPA’s SmartWay initiative whenever possible. We include SmartWay certification during our new carrier certification process. Greif’s SmartWay-approved carrier base accounts for 77 percent of total miles traveled.
At Greif’s Austell mill in Georgia, we began a wastewater residuals dewatering project to turn waste into biofuel. The circular economy practice sweeps thickened solids from a floating sediment blanket on to a dewatering press. The flowable solids are dehydrated until they can be transported to a location to air dry, mixed with other materials, and consumed as a supplemental boiler fuel. This process not only allows materials to be repurposed to gain the most benefit from start to finish, but it also saves the facility landfill disposal fees.
In late 2019, Greif’s Florence, Kentucky facility installed a wastewater treatment facility to reduce our hazardous waste load and recycle water back to the city. The process works by introducing water into the system, removing close to 100% of the pollutants from the paint process and sends the cleaned water to the local treatment plant. The water is then recycled by the treatment plant for redistribution to the community. The material leftover from the process is disposed via trash instead of hazardous waste. As the equipment came fully online in mid-2020, the process has not only significantly lowered hazardous waste generated by the facility, but also reduced the cost of waste by $40,000 a month.
The year 2013 marked the conclusion of a multi-year pollinator research project that occurred on Greif/Soterra LLC timberlands in south Mississippi. The study was conducted in conjunction 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.
The study produced some interesting recommendations for sustainable timberland management practices that should benefit timberland owners, pollinator species, local wildlife and ecosystems alike. Greif is committed to its sustainable land use platform and will help distribute any resulting publications to industry partners, regulators and members of the academic community globally to influence positive environmental management in timberland systems.
In 2013, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) recognized Soterra LLC and the Pollinator Partnership with its coveted Conservation Leadership Award for this research. The state of Louisiana also recognized the efforts on the program by declaring a state-wide Pollinator Week in the spring of 2018. As of 2021, Soterra LLC continues its support for education, outreach, conservation and scientific research relating to the importance of pollinators in our ecosystem by maintaining its involvement in the Pollinator Partnership as an active Board of Directors member. To learn more, please see our article in Bee Culture Magazine .
In 2018, Soterra established a partnership with the National Estuary Program to use donated Greif drums to collect rainwater. Through the program, each drum is outfitted with a rain barrel conversion kit to help store, capture and put rainwater to good use. The barrels are installed in impoverished areas with historically high utility costs that are also prone to flooding and water pollution associated with excessive water runoff. In 2021, 200 drums capable of providing 260,000* gallons of water were installed in the community. In 2019, we received an Environmental Stewardship award from Partners for Environmental Progress in recognition of the program. In 2022, we will deliver another 200 drums to expand this project. We will also provide homeowners the proper training and instruction upon instillation.
*According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, a rain barrel saves 1,300 gallons of water during peak summer months.
Over the last few years, Greif has faced new and additional challenges because of wildfires. To mitigate risks associated with the disruptive nature of these events, we are employing new insurance strategies. We are keeping these risks at the forefront of our risk management approach and considering how the impacts of climate change may further contribute to these risks.
In 2020, hurricanes moving through the Gulf of Mexico impacted the Mobile Recycling, Bay Minnette and Woodbine Paper Packaging & Services (PPS) plants and a derecho impacted our Tama, Iowa mill. In all cases, we worked to supply customers through capacity at other locations as plants faced downtime of one-half to two days depending on the event. Our business continuity plans ensured the downtime resulted in no lost business and we delivered on our promises to our customers.
In 2021, our Texas facilities were impacted by severe winter storms. We enacted our Crisis Management Protocols and shut down our facilities to ensure the health and safety of our colleagues. Our facilities were closed anywhere between four and ten days to allow enough time to restore power and repair damages. Since the winter storms impacted our local customers as well, our customer supply was not affected. We maintained colleague safety during the storms and prioritized a safe work environment for our colleagues before they returned to our facilities.
Since 2018, Greif’s Flexible Products and Services (FPS) Turkey operations have been ISO 27001 certified, reflecting of our commitment to keeping Greif’s, and Greif’s customers’, information assets secure. The certification demonstrates that the information security management system (ISMS) meets international best practices and shows the significant efforts made by FPS Turkey towards compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe. The certification builds on FPS Turkey’s impressive quality credentials, which include ISO 9001 certified Quality Management Systems, Grade AA BRC IoP Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Materials Issue 6-compliant Product Safety Management Systems and ISO 14001 compliant Environmental Management Systems.
Greif made Newsweek’s list of Most Loved Workplaces in 2021. The results are determined through surveying more than 800,000 employees on a variety of topics areas including employee feelings of inclusion, respect and alignment with personal values. The survey also gauges employee feelings of support in achieving results and a positive vision for continuous improvement as well as overall employee satisfaction. Greif is proud to have earned a spot on the list, and we will continue making Greif a great place to work.
In 2007, Greif established a scholarship program to assist our colleagues’ children who plan to continue education in college or vocational school programs. Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of financial need, academic record, demonstrated leadership, participation in school and community activities, honors, statement of educational aspirations and goals, unusual personal and family circumstances, and an outside appraisal.
The program is administered by Scholarship Management Services, a division of Scholarship America. Scholarship Management Services is the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarship and tuition reimbursement programs for corporations, foundations, associations and individuals. Awards are granted without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender, disability or national origin. Selection of recipients is made by Scholarship Management Services. In no circumstance does any officer or colleague of Greif play a part in the selection. In 2021, we supported 44 scholarships. Since 2007, 213 students from around the world have received Greif sponsored scholarships.
In 2021, we launched Greif University, our training platform with over 100 different strategic learning offerings. Greif University serves as a unified place where all employees can go for development. We currently offer 58 courses and 247 learning modules in 14 different categories, including Customer Service Excellence, Environmental Health & Safety, and Leadership & Professional Development. Each module is available in English and Spanish to offer training to employees in their local language. Since launching Greif University there has been a significant increase in the use of development materials and higher training completion rates.
All Greif colleagues in Canada and the United States have access to an employee assistance program (EAP). Greif’s EAP is a confidential work-based intervention program offering colleagues and their families informational services designed to enhance emotional, mental and general psychological well-being. The program provides preventive and proactive interventions for the early detection, identification and/or resolution of both work and personal problems that may adversely affect performance and well-being. These problems and issues may include but are not limited to, relationships, health, trauma, substance abuse, gambling and other addictions, financial problems, depression, anxiety disorders, psychiatric disorders, communication problems and coping with change.
Greif’s long-term health and safety aspiration is to achieve zero accidents at all our facilities worldwide. While we recognize the challenge of this aspiration, 20 of our Global Industrial Packaging (GIP) facilities including the following sites have achieved ten or more years of accident-free operations:
Chairman’s Safety Excellence Award
Each facility that achieves an MCR of zero wins the Chairman’s Safety Excellence Award. Globally, 94 of our production facilities received the award in 2021 and were recognized at a virtual ceremony.
Inclusive Leadership Training
The Inclusive Leadership Journey is for people managers and senior leaders at Greif to learn about inclusive leadership. The program covers the foundations of inclusive leadership for global leaders to develop and exhibit inclusive behaviors in the workplace. The training goes in-depth about defining and discussing the impact of unconscious and implicit bias, best practices for inclusion and actionable steps, and examining the impact of inclusion. The learning journey includes a confidential assessment of current level of inclusive behavior for each participant and a personalized action plan for implementation of key topics. The sessions began in October 2021, and will continue through April 2022.
Diversity Week in LATAM
At Greif, we encourage and embrace our diversity of culture, language, location and thought. During the week of August 9-13, 2021, the Human Resources Teams in LATAM held a Diversity week event to educate our colleagues on the importance of respecting others and living The Greif Way. The week-long event included virtual learning sessions covering the topics of Unconscious Bias, Gender, Women & Career, Generations, LGBTQIA+ and Diversity of Origins / Ethnicity. In total, more than 700 colleagues participated.
The Greif Women’s Network (GWN) celebrated its ongoing commitment toward progressing our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Journey. The GWN reinforced its mission to foster DE&I by encouraging our colleagues to nominate coworkers as a Diversity Champion because they demonstrate an appreciation of DE&I. We featured each Diversity Champion winner in GreifNews and on the GWN InsideGreif page. Colleagues also participated by giving back through charitable donations. We sold diversity t-shirts through our online store and donated the proceeds to Dress for Success Columbus, a global non-profit organization that empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. Through these efforts, the GWN progressed their mission by encouraging diversity in our community.
Laser Markings on IBCs
Greif Sweden/Nordic is the first in the market to replace ink jet markings with laser markings on Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs), reducing the use of solvent-based ink during production. By eliminating the use of solvents and ink, the production environment is cleaner. We also are able to reduce the weight of the IBC by one kilogram by removing the plate traditionally used for laser marking. We believe this innovation will set a new standard for markings on IBCs.
Knock Down Drums (KDD) for Remote Locations
Greif’s Knock Down Drums (KDD) offer the optimal sustainable solution for transporting steel drums to remote locations. Semi-finished drum parts are shipped and assembled locally on site with minimum people and equipment. The unique concept allows transportation of up to 1,176 KDDs in a 20’ sea container compared to 80 full finished drums, saving valuable space, optimizing transport costs and minimizing our customers’ carbon footprint during longer transit times. Drums are delivered directly to our customers’ filling station helping to improve efficiencies with minimum stock and less manual handling.
Greif manufactured our first lighter weight 20 and 25-liter jerrycan models in 2015. This design is 15 percent lighter than the previous model while maintaining performance specifications of the previous design. Due to the reduced weight, the new jerrycans reduce materials and energy used in production by up to 15 percent and have a reduced emissions impact. In 2019, we expanded this product line to include sizes 16 and 18 liters. We now produce our lighter jerrycans in Italy, Israel, Sweden and Singapore.
COEX multilayer plastic packaging combines several layers of different plastics materials into a single structure and offers many barrier performance benefits, particularly for agrochemical and food packaging applications. However, when reground, COEX plastics can only be used in low performance applications. In response to our customers’ need for recyclable packaging with superior barrier performance, we created our ECOEX line of jerrycans. The ECOEX technology enables Greif to produce an innovative, multilayer jerrycan that can be recycled through regrinding processes to produce high performing, UN Certified jerrycans and bottles. ECOEX also reduces costs for our customers who typically pay an increased collection fee for COEX packaging collection after use. We continue to drive innovation that supports our circular economy strategy and meets our customers’ needs. The LATAM GIP team was awarded the 2021 Michael J. Gasser Sustainability Award for their contribution towards our circular economy strategy while meeting the needs of our customers.
Greif’s high-quality 100% recycled paperboard concrete forming tubes offer superior performance for demanding concrete projects including columns, footings, piers and other structures. EasyPour tubes are one example of our efforts throughout 2021 to commercialize new product lines that replace virgin-based products with recycled material products and remove plastic by incorporating our aqueous-based barrier coatings. EasyPour tubes also provide our customers with products that have improved end-of-life solutions, thereby advancing our circular economy strategy. EasyPour’s built-in weather shield technology provides moisture resistance and increased strength and durability. EasyPour tubes are LEED® qualified, made of 100% recycled paperboard produced by Greif mills and are fully recyclable and repulpable.
In order to respond to customer demands to remove weight and optimize transportation costs, our Greif Latin America colleagues designed a novel plastic drum innovation using a never seen before facetted side-wall approach for large plastic drums. This improvement removed up to 14 percent of the resin in the drum while maintaining performance. Not only does the design reduce raw material usage, it also optimized pallet utilization due to its unique configuration which allows more drums to be transported in the same space as the legacy design. The faceted drum is a more sustainable solution both in reducing natural resource consumption and lowering fossil fuel-based raw material usage and CO2 emissions during transportation.
At Greif, we now have the ability to print high-resolution images directly onto steel drums using the latest print technologies. This capability is the direct result of an investment designed to meet the needs of customers who are looking for ways to differentiate their products and generate impactful packaging design to support the price point of high value products. In addition to adding value for our customers, this process eliminated the need for a standard gas oven, using LED-based UV curing during the production process. This new process saves 0.5 kilograms CO2 per drum. Greif strategically placed the new Drum 360 technology in plants close to customers who use this new technology, in the Belgium, France, Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Poland.
Greif’s GCUBE Connect solution, launched at LogiChem virtual conference, gives real time tracking information about a customer’s IBC through the application of an Internet of Things-based device. A customer-based dashboard displays in real time where an IBC is sited, the level of the filled product and the environmental temperature. This dashboard allows customers to plan in advance for deliveries of filled product and the arrival of new IBCS, as well as schedule collections of empty IBCs. GCUBE Connect also supports better management of residue in the IBCs. Each IBC that enters the facility is automatically weighed to determine how much residue is in the container to determine how it will be treated. This innovation pairs well with Greif France’s ability to pick up and drop off reconditioned IBCs from any site along a customer’s supply chain, as opposed to one single location. Together, they simplify the logistics for the customer and increase transparency.
Consumer demand for sustainable food and beverage packaging is increasing demand for more sustainable products. Our PPS business works with customers and partners to develop innovative products that replace virgin-based products with recycled material products or products that replace plastic from packaging with our barrier coatings. We developed the EnviroBevTM beverage carrier to replace a virgin-based product with a 100% recycled, wet-strength material for craft brewery beverage carriers. In 2021, PPS also commercialized food grade packaging—cupstock, platestock and bowls—made from recycled fiber with an aqueous-based coating. This coating replaces the polyethylene extrusion typically used in food grade packing and enables the packaging to be more readily composted or recycled. Combined, these innovations will replace 14,000 tons of virgin-based material with recycled material. The PPS innovation team was awarded the 2021 Michael J. Gasser Sustainability Award for their contribution towards our circular economy strategy while meeting the needs of our customers.
Greif’s Tri-Sure facility in Carol Stream collaborated with GIP North America purchasing, GIP Italy and four GIP NA plants to source 800,000 pounds of recycled plastic resins to use in the production of IBC rear/corner feet and corner protectors. This internal sourcing strategy reduced costs by $100,000. The team also reused empty corrugated bulk boxes to ship the recycled products they manufacture, reducing corrugated bulk box purchases by 84 percent. The project created company value and established environmental and financial benefits, while closing two internal loop systems and contributing to circular economy principles by diverting waste from landfills and finding a new purpose for them. Due to the outstanding sustainability impact of the project and its ability to be scaled to other molding and injection molding facilities, the project and Tri-Sure Carol Stream team was awarded the Michael J. Gasser Sustainability Award.
In 2020, our Dalton, Georgia Recycling Facility worked with the floor covering manufacturers in the Dalton area to process recovered fiber and create a “closed loop” for paperboard cores. Each year, the Dalton Recycling team recovers tens of thousands of tons of core waste from these manufacturers and recovers this waste fiber. This same fiber is used by Greif’s paper mills to manufacture 100 percent recycled new paperboard, which is then converted into new tubes and cores in Greif’s Industrial Products Group (IPG). This initiative helps not only sustain the recycling programs in Dalton but also maintain our level of excellent customer service with IPG customers. Annually, this program helps recycle 25,000 tons of cores, 10,000 tons of cardboard, 5,000 tons of boxboard and 2,000 tons of plastic film from the flooring industry in north Georgia.
For the past 20 years Greif’s RIPS facility in Iberia, Portugal has been supplying customers with reconditioned conical drums, having reconditioned over 10 million drums and saving 50,000 tons of steel, 197,600 tonnes of CO2 emissions, 2,600,000 gigajoules of energy and 343,200 cubic meters of water in the process. The project was initially started as a way to help address our customers’ wish to reduce waste and lower their carbon footprint and overall improve customer satisfaction. The team collaborated with customers to understand their needs, including volume, specification requirements and safety, developed a reconditioning process and ultimately installed a reconditioning line to begin serving customers. Today, the facility serves a multitude of customers, reconditioning 500,000 conical drums and saving 5,200 tons of steel each year.
In 2020, Greif made investments and established multiple joint ventures in order to expand the scale and capabilities of the reuse, recycling and reconditioning services we provide. In April of 2020, Greif acquired a minority stake in Centurion Container LLC, expanding our intermediate bulk container (IBC) reconditioning network in North America. In August of 2020, Greif established a joint venture with Delta Plastics, the leading independent supplier of reconditioned IBCs in the United Kingdom. Finally, in December of 2020, Greif acquired a minority stake in LAF s.r.l., expanding IBC reconditioning services for our Italy-based customers. We look forward to working with our partners to continue to reduce our environmental impact through cradle to cradle solutions.
The Greif Green Tool is a flexible calculator that uses independent lifecycle data of Greif industrial packaging products – designed to assist our customers in making informed decisions about which industrial packaging best suits their products and to achieve their sustainability goals. The Green Tool allows customers to review and compare the environmental impact of plastic drums, steel drums, IBCs, fibre drums and big bags specifically related to their business. Results can be used to create an environmental baseline and help customers make meaningful comparisons between different packaging types and track their progress over time. To supplement the Greif Green Tool, we launched the Greif Green Tool Lite, which allows us to provide information more quickly to our customers. The Greif Green Tool Lite provides carbon footprint and reduction metrics that our customers can achieve by switching to a more sustainable product.
Greif’s LCS facility in Lille, France has taken significant steps to innovate the logistics associated with offering reconditioning services to our customers. Traditionally, empty IBCs were picked up from and delivered to a single location for a single customer. LCS Lille has begun picking up from locations along our customers supply chain, then delivering reconditioned IBCs back to our customers, simplifying logistics for our customers. Lille has also implemented Datamatrix, a traceability system that allows us to record all production steps from reception to delivery, have visibility into the origins of an IBC and provide a real time view of our inventory in support of overall enhanced customer service. Datamatrix also supports better management of residue in the IBCs they collect. Each IBC that enters the facility is automatically weighed to determine how much residue is in the container and inform how it is treated. With Datamatrix, this information can be sent directly back to customers to improve how they manage IBCs that are ready for pick-up. Lille uses a closed loop water system for water that is used to clean IBCs recycling 100 percent of the water they use, and collects, treats and shreds plastic that is used to manufacture new IBCs and plastic drums.
The CorrChoice GreenGuard® product line provides our customers with a food safe recyclable and repulpable alternative to supplemental materials, such as plastic liners. Our GreenGuard® line of paper coatings are safe for direct contact with most food types and feature oil, grease, water, moisture and abrasion resistance as well as an innovative wax replacement technology. By applying the coating to corrugated containers, we eliminate the need for supplemental materials used in many food applications. We work with our customers to ensure our products meet their needs for safe and secure food handling while providing packaging products that are 100% recyclable and repulpable, advancing our circular economy strategy while enabling our customers to meet their sustainability objectives.
Greif Paperboard mills are Sustainable Forestry Initiatives (SFI®) Certified, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC®) Certified and Program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC®) Chain of Custody Certified. These certification systems provide third-party certification to track and communicate the amount of product that comes from sustainably managed land.
In 2021, Greif earned Gold Recognition level from EcoVadis for superior Corporate Social Responsibility performance. This score places Greif in the top four percent of all suppliers assessed by EcoVadis.
