创新
改进产品和流程以减少我们的足迹并提高客户满意度。
亮点
- Greif’s approach to innovation encourages all parts of the company to participate in transforming our product portfolio and organizational processes.
- We evaluate, prioritize and elevate projects based on potential financial return, sustainability impact and overall value to Greif and our customers.
- In 2023, Greif had more than $822 million in revenue from sustainability-tagged products from our Global Industrial Packaging (GIP) business and life cycle services offered by our Paper Packaging & Services (PPS) and GIP businesses.
Why Innovation Matters
Innovation at Greif helps to drive our organizational mission and is crucial in addressing customers’ operational challenges and packaging needs. Our focus on product innovation aligns with several missions of our Build to Last Strategy. For example, our Protecting Our Future mission comes to life in developing new, more sustainable products and services that ultimately help advance a low-carbon and circular economy future. As part of our Creating Thriving Communities mission, we prioritize colleague safety and safeguard customer health through the continual advancement of process innovation.
治理
Greif’s approach to innovation encourages all parts of the company to participate in transforming our product portfolio and organizational processes. Our Global Innovation Team is made up of representatives from each business unit. Led by the Director of Sustainable Innovation, the team facilitates a cohesive and collaborative environment for idea-sharing and cross-enterprise collaboration. Our In-House Entrepreneur Program establishes a coordinated approach for colleagues at all levels to contribute ideas and foster innovation. Quarterly project reviews are held with the Executive Leadership Team and the Board of Directors to communicate updates on innovation priorities and industry trends that can impact our business.
At the end of 2023, the Director of Sustainable Innovation began reporting through Greif’s Global Operations Group, enhancing connectivity with cross-functional teams and providing expanded resources for project implementation.
Colleague Engagement in Innovation
Our Sustainability Innovation Strategy strives to inspire colleagues to reach their dreams through innovation. We believe a company culture of innovation fosters a dynamic and engaging work environment, encouraging creative problem-solving and continuous learning for our colleagues. Our In-House Entrepreneur Program empowers Greif colleagues to generate and implement innovations that meet customer demands for sustainability, improve Greif's processes and expand our business to new markets. In 2023, the program was allocated a budget for experimenting with and testing colleague ideas. Approximately 90 percent of innovations in the program have sustainability benefits.
In 2023, we introduced our Innovator of the Month recognition program to acknowledge and celebrate colleagues who contribute significantly to our innovation initiatives.Greif’s sustainable packaging solutions are developed using eight environmental, social and financial criteria and focus on the principles of circularity and dematerialization. Working with customers, we create products that meet required performance and safety standards while minimizing environmental impacts through design features such as lightweighting, incorporating recycled raw materials and designing for recyclability and reduced emissions. Our innovation strategy takes a holistic approach and assesses projects based on financial returns, sustainability impact and overall value to Greif and our customers.
Greif Green Tool and Greif Green Tool Lite
The Greif Green Tool and Greif Green Tool Lite help us collaborate with customers on sustainability. The Greif Green Tool, a flexible calculator based on ISO 14040/14044 standards and independent life cycle analysis of Greif Global Industrial Packaging products, provides customers with valuable insights into the impacts of packaging, transportation and product end-of-life scenarios on greenhouse gas emissions. Customers can create environmental baselines and compare different options to support more sustainable decision-making and help them meet their goals. Additionally, the Greif Green Tool Lite, designed in response to increased customer demand, offers more efficient access to carbon footprint and reduction metrics for our top-selling intermediate bulk containers, drum products and jerrycans. Continual updates and incorporation of our latest product information ensures the tool's data and classifications remain current.
Our innovation priorities continuously adapt to each business unit’s unique needs and customers. Within our GIP business, ongoing efforts focus on implementing sustainable product projects to reduce material use. Innovative ideas are explored to address factors such as carbon footprint reduction, environmental impact minimization, incorporation of recycled raw materials and efficient raw material utilization.
In our PPS business, we collaborate with customers to create innovative, sustainable solutions. Our core development and strategy teams meet monthly to review progress and associated challenges of innovation projects, while our Innovation Team meets quarterly to monitor progress against our innovation objectives. Our efforts focus on reducing single-use plastic and non-recyclable products through recycled material-based alternatives and eliminating plastic via our barrier coatings. Recycled inputs and compostable paperboard products, such as food-grade packaging and EasyPour® construction cores, minimize carbon footprints, deliver cost savings and expand our presence in new markets. Additionally, our new Environmentally Smart (ES) Natural product has replaced a virgin fiber-based product in the construction industry. In FY23, ES Natural replaced 2,965 U.S. tons of virgin raw materials.
Innovation is also an important part of how we protect the health and safety of our colleagues and the consumers who use our products. Our Innovation Team collaborates closely with colleagues at various plants to develop transformative solutions or implement technology to make processes safer. For example, we are testing a virtual reality safety training program for colleagues to practice safety actions without risking injury or harm.
目标、进展与表现
As innovation continues to drive our circularity efforts and product development, we are concentrating on post-consumer resin products and reconditioning to advance the circular economy. (For more information on our circularity initiatives, please see the 循环制造 section of this report.) Additionally, we have increased our attention on plastic treatment to find alternatives to potential PFAS-generating technologies currently in use and to improve product safety.
In addition, innovation also has a role to play in customer service. We are actively working to improve our products by collaborating with internal and external customers. To support future collaboration, the Global Innovation Team plans to enhance proactive customer engagement by working with Greif’s commercial teams and increasing customer site visits. We aim to gain firsthand insights into unmet customer needs to inform our innovation strategies.
In 2023, Greif had more than $822 million in revenue from sustainability-tagged products from GIP and life cycle services offered by our GIP and PPS businesses.
IBC 上的激光标记
Greif Sweden/Nordic 是市场上第一家在中型散装容器 (IBC) 上用激光标记取代喷墨标记的公司，从而减少了生产过程中溶剂型油墨的使用。通过消除溶剂和油墨的使用，生产环境更加清洁。我们还能够通过移除传统上用于激光标记的板材，将 IBC 的重量减轻一公斤。我们相信这项创新将为 IBC 上的标记树立新的标准。
适用于偏远地区的击倒鼓 (KDD)
格雷夫 击倒鼓 (KDD) 为将钢桶运输到偏远地区提供最佳的可持续解决方案。半成品钢桶部件在现场运输和组装，所需人员和设备最少。独特的概念允许在 20 英尺海运集装箱中运输多达 1,176 个 KDD，而完整的成品钢桶则为 80 个，从而节省了宝贵的空间，优化了运输成本，并在较长的运输时间内最大限度地减少了客户的碳足迹。钢桶直接运送到客户的加油站，有助于提高效率，减少库存和人工处理。
油桶的轻量化和造型创新
2015 年，Greif 制造了我们首款重量更轻的 20 升和 25 升油桶模型。这种设计比之前的型号轻 15%，同时保持了之前设计的性能规格。由于重量减轻，新油桶在生产过程中使用的材料和能源减少了高达 15%，并减少了排放影响。2019 年，我们扩大了该产品线，包括 16 升和 18 升尺寸。我们现在在意大利、以色列、瑞典和新加坡生产我们的轻型油桶。
ECOEX 油桶
COEX 多层塑料包装将多层不同的塑料材料组合成一个单一结构，具有许多阻隔性能优势，尤其适用于农用化学品和食品包装应用。然而，重新研磨后，COEX 塑料只能用于低性能应用。为了满足客户对具有卓越阻隔性能的可回收包装的需求，我们创建了 ECOEX 系列油桶。ECOEX 技术使 Greif 能够生产创新的多层油桶，该油桶可通过再研磨工艺回收，以生产高性能、经联合国认证的油桶和瓶子。ECOEX 还为我们的客户降低了成本，因为客户在使用后通常会为 COEX 包装收集支付更高的收集费。我们继续推动创新，以支持我们的循环经济战略并满足客户的需求。LATAM GIP 团队因其在满足客户需求的同时为我们的循环经济战略做出的贡献而荣获 2021 年 Michael J. Gasser 可持续发展奖。
更轻松的方法
为了满足客户减轻重量和优化运输成本的需求，我们的格瑞夫拉丁美洲同事设计了一种新颖的塑料桶创新，采用前所未有的多面侧壁方法处理大型塑料桶。这项改进在保持性能的同时，减少了桶中高达 14% 的树脂。该设计不仅减少了原材料的使用，还优化了托盘利用率，因为它的独特配置允许在与传统设计相同的空间内运输更多桶。多面桶是一种更可持续的解决方案，既可以减少自然资源消耗，又可以降低运输过程中基于化石燃料的原材料使用量和二氧化碳排放量。
使用 Drum 360 打造更好的品牌
在 Greif，我们现在有能力 打印高分辨率图像 直接使用最新的印刷技术将油墨印在钢桶上。这一能力是投资的直接成果，旨在满足客户的需求，这些客户正在寻找方法来区分他们的产品并产生有影响力的包装设计，以支持高价值产品的价格点。除了为我们的客户增加价值外，该工艺还消除了对标准燃气炉的需求，在生产过程中使用基于 LED 的紫外线固化。这种新工艺每桶可节省 0.5 公斤二氧化碳。Greif 战略性地将新的 Drum 360 技术放置在靠近使用这项新技术的客户的工厂中，这些工厂位于比利时、法国、荷兰、意大利、德国和波兰。
GCUBE Connect：实时跟踪您的 IBC
格雷夫 GCUBE 连接 解决方案， 推出 在 LogiChem 虚拟会议上，通过应用基于物联网的设备提供有关客户 IBC 的实时跟踪信息。基于客户的仪表板实时显示 IBC 的位置、已填充产品的水平和环境温度。该仪表板允许客户提前计划已填充产品的交付和新 IBC 的到达，以及安排空 IBC 的收集。GCUBE Connect 还支持更好地管理 IBC 中的残留物。进入设施的每个 IBC 都会自动称重，以确定容器中有多少残留物，以确定如何处理。这项创新与 Greif France 能够从客户供应链上的任何站点（而不是一个单一地点）提取和运送翻新的 IBC 的能力完美结合。它们共同简化了客户的物流并提高了透明度。
