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Employee benefit plans - Additional Information (Details) $ in Thousands	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			141 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2021 USD ($) year participant	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2021
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Defined benefit plans, accumulated benefit obligation		$ 504,944	$ 2,081,850
Projected benefit obligation (PBO) with accumulated benefit obligations in excess of plan assets		228,127	1,788,070
Accumulated benefit obligation (ABO) with accumulated benefit obligations in excess of plan assets		223,657	1,783,883
Fair value of plan assets for pension plans with accumulated benefit obligations in excess of plan assets		61,686	1,468,068
Projected contributions to retirement plan		$ 16,000
Percentage of retiree health liability		95.00%
Total postretirement benefit plan assets		$ 431,047	1,813,135
Canada \| Equity securities
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Current target allocation for investment portfolio		28.00%
Canada \| Debt securities
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Current target allocation for investment portfolio		72.00%
U.K. \| Equity securities
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Current target allocation for investment portfolio		32.00%
U.K. \| Debt securities
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Current target allocation for investment portfolio		68.00%
Sonoco Savings Plan
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Defined contribution plan contribution percentage, Minimum		1.00%
Defined contribution plan contribution percentage, Maximum		100.00%
Percentage of participants modified matching contribution to be matched towards safe Harbor under companies savings plan	100.00%				50.00%
Modify matching employee contribution to profit sharing under companies savings plan	6.00%				4.00%
Companies expense related to the plan		$ 13,900	13,700	$ 13,400
Sonoco Investment and Retirement Plan
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Projected contributions to retirement plan		22,000
Companies expense related to the plan		$ 22,914	23,505	23,752
Contribution rate of annual eligible earnings under companies investment and retirement plan		4.00%
Contribution rate of annual eligible earnings in excess of social security wage base under companies investment and retirement plan		4.00%
Vesting period		3 years
Age limit of participants (year) \| year		55
Cash contributions to the SIRP		$ 22,665	22,503	14,573
Retirement Plans
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Total postretirement benefit plan assets		417,105	1,799,109	1,683,520
Retirement Plans \| Canada
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Non-cash settlement charges		11,984	854
Retirement Plans \| Inactive Plan Investment Portfolio
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Projected contributions to retirement plan		124,432
Expected settlement charge		$ 538,722
Number of participants \| participant		11,000
Retirement Plans \| Active Plan Investment Portfolio
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Number of participants \| participant		700
Retirement Plans \| Active Plan Investment Portfolio \| United States \| Equity securities
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Current target allocation for investment portfolio		20.00%
Retirement Plans \| Active Plan Investment Portfolio \| United States \| Debt securities
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Current target allocation for investment portfolio		80.00%
Retiree Health and Life Insurance Plans
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Total postretirement benefit plan assets		$ 13,942	$ 14,026	$ 12,881
Retiree Health and Life Insurance Plans \| Canada
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Total postretirement benefit plan assets		50,837
Retiree Health and Life Insurance Plans \| U.K.
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Total postretirement benefit plan assets		304,582
Retiree Health and Life Insurance Plans \| United States
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Total postretirement benefit plan assets		$ 51,715