Driving Efficiency and Sustainability Across the Packaging Journey

The thinking behind Graphic Packaging International's transportation and logistics initiative and why the movement of materials and packaging is part of the journey to make better packaging

Packaging rarely stays in one place for long. Before a carton reaches a customer, paperboard may travel between facilities; scrap may be collected and returned for recycling; and finished packaging may move through warehouses, distribution networks and delivery routes.

Each mile represents an opportunity to improve efficiency and sustainability. That idea sits at the heart of Graphic Packaging's initiative to better understand how materials and packaging move through its network and identify practical ways to optimize transportation, serve customer needs and contribute to the company's broader sustainability objectives. As part of the company's Better, Every Day sustainability strategy, the initiative applies a continuous-improvement mindset to transportation and logistics, helping evaluate opportunities across its network.

Watch: Graphic Packaging's head of logistics shares how the company is advancing transportation initiatives and why they matter to its Better, Every Day journey.

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Every Route Is a Decision

Every transportation decision involves a series of tradeoffs. The carrier selected for a route, the mode used to move freight, the efficiency of a trailer load, and the location of inventory can all influence service levels, costs, operational performance, and emissions. What appears to be a transportation decision often shapes outcomes across the business.

That interconnected nature is what inspired Graphic Packaging's approach. Rather than pursuing a single solution, the initiative is built around the idea that meaningful improvements often come from addressing multiple parts of the transportation network.

"Customers experience the outcomes of logistics every day, whether that's product availability, service reliability or support for their sustainability objectives. What they don't always see are the thousands of decisions behind those outcomes. We want to approach those decisions with greater visibility, better data and a long-term view of how value is created across the network."

- Domingo Amunategui, Vice President of Logistics, Graphic Packaging

Our Better Logistics initiative is organized around four key areas. Each represents a different lever for improving efficiency and performance, recognizing that transportation outcomes are rarely driven by a single decision or technology.

1. The first is carrier selection, partnering with transportation providers that operate modern fleets, maintain strong service standards and are making investments in sustainability.
2. The second is mode conversion, identifying opportunities to shift freight to rail, intermodal or other transportation modes where it makes operational and business sense.
3. The third focuses on alternative fuels, including pilot programs involving renewable natural gas and electric vehicles in select regions.
4. The fourth is network and payload optimization, an ongoing effort to reduce empty miles, increase trailer utilization and improve the efficiency of the transportation network overall.

"The best transportation solutions align with both business and sustainability objectives," Amunategui said. "That's why we're focused on a mix of near-term opportunities that can create value today and longer-term initiatives that help us prepare for the future. Just as importantly, we're working closely with our carrier partners, whose expertise, infrastructure and willingness to innovate help us explore opportunities we might not otherwise be able to access on our own."

Taking a Different Route

A route that works well in one region may not make sense in another. Customer requirements, operating environments, infrastructure, distance, and available technologies all influence the decisions logistics teams make every day.

That's why delivering better packaging logistics is about exploration as much as execution. Across North America and Europe, teams are testing different approaches, gathering data and evaluating how transportation solutions perform in real-world conditions.

KEY PROJECTS

In the Midwest: Exploring Renewable Natural Gas

In the Chicago-Kalamazoo corridor, Graphic Packaging is using eight renewable natural gas (RNG)-powered trucks. The routes play an important role in supplying paperboard to facilities and customers while returning recovered fiber for repulping and reuse. Powered by RNG generated from organic waste sources, including landfill gas, the trucks represent an opportunity to reduce transportation-related emissions within an established freight network while maintaining the reliability required for day-to-day operations.

In the Pacific Northwest: Testing Electric Transportation

In the Pacific Northwest, two fully electric trucks operate on dedicated, short-haul routes across the Portland area, helping move materials and finished packaging between key Graphic Packaging facilities and customers. The project also required charging infrastructure, underscoring the role strategic partnerships can play in helping new transportation technologies move from concept to day-to-day operations.

In the United Kingdom: Accelerating Electric Freight

Across the Atlantic, Graphic Packaging is operating two electric heavy goods vehicles (eHGVs) on routes serving facilities in the East Midlands and North East of England. The project builds on the UK transportation team's longstanding efforts to improve fleet efficiency through better vehicles, data and routing decisions, work previously recognized with a Masternaut Gold Fleet award. The vehicles are part of a broader industry effort exploring how shared charging infrastructure, fleet data and cross-sector collaboration can enable wider adoption of electric freight transportation.

Choosing the Next Route

The timing is significant.

Companies are working to improve the efficiency and resiliency of complex supply chains amidst geopolitical uncertainty, shifting trade patterns, extreme weather events and continuously evolving consumer expectations. Additionally, brands are looking for more accurate transportation and emissions data for sustainability reporting, including tracking Scope 3 emissions.

Packaging design can play a role, too, with solutions that ship more efficiently, improve pallet utilization or reduce the need for secondary packaging.

At the same time, new technologies, alternative fuels, and improved data visibility are creating new opportunities to evaluate and optimize transportation networks. For Graphic Packaging, logistics is about understanding those opportunities today while building the knowledge, experience and flexibility to navigate whatever comes next.

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