XML 55 R44.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.5.0.2

Assets and Liabilities Held for Sale and Disposals of Properties, Plants and Equipment, Net, and Timberland Gains - Additional Information (Detail) $ in Millions | 3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended |
--- | --- | --- | ---
Jul. 31, 2016 USD ($) asset_group | Jul. 31, 2015 USD ($) | Jul. 31, 2016 USD ($) asset_group | Jul. 31, 2015 USD ($) | Oct. 31, 2015 asset_group
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |
Gain (loss) on disposals of properties, plants and equipment, net | $ 0.7 | $ 7.0 | $ 9.5 | $ 9.3 |
Timberland gains | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 24.3 |
Other Net Gains |  |  |  |  |
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |
Gain (loss) on disposals of properties, plants and equipment, net | $ 0.3 | 1.1 | $ 0.7 |  |
Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services |  |  |  |  |
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |
Number of assets groups with assets and liabilities held for sale (asset group) | asset_group | 1 |  | 1 |  | 4
Gain (loss) on disposals of properties, plants and equipment, net |  |  | $ 6.4 | 6.6 |
Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services | Assets Held for Sale |  |  |  |  |
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |
Gain (loss) on disposals of properties, plants and equipment, net | $ (0.2) | 4.4 |  |  |
Flexible Products & Services |  |  |  |  |
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |
Number of assets groups with assets and liabilities held for sale (asset group) | asset_group | 1 |  | 1 |  | 1
Flexible Products & Services | Assets Held for Sale |  |  |  |  |
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |
Gain (loss) on disposals of properties, plants and equipment, net | $ 0.4 |  | $ 1.3 |  |
Paper Packaging & Services |  |  |  |  |
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |
Gain (loss) on disposals of properties, plants and equipment, net | $ 0.2 |  | 0.2 |  |
Land Management |  |  |  |  |
Long Lived Assets Held-for-sale [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |
Gain (loss) on disposals of properties, plants and equipment, net |  | $ 1.5 | $ 0.9 | $ 2.7 |

X
- Definition Number of assets group with assets and Liabilities held for sale. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | gef_NumberOfAssetsGroupWithAssetsAndLiabilitiesHeldForSale
Namespace Prefix: | gef_
Data Type: | xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | instant

X
- Definition Amount of gain (loss) on sale or disposal of property, plant and equipment assets, including oil and gas property and timber property. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 230 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 28 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56944662&loc=d3e3602-108585 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_GainLossOnSaleOfPropertyPlantEquipment
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Amount of gain (loss) on sale or disposal of property used for growing and harvesting trees. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 360 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=51719941&loc=d3e2941-110230 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 230 -SubTopic 10 -Section 45 -Paragraph 28 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=56944662&loc=d3e3602-108585 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 205 -SubTopic 20 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (b) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=51717284&loc=d3e1361-107760 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_GainLossOnSaleOfTimberProperty
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type: | credit
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_LongLivedAssetsHeldForSaleLineItems
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_GainContingenciesByNatureAxis=gef_OtherNetGainsMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=gef_RigidIndustrialPackagingAndServicesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_DisposalGroupClassificationAxis=us-gaap_DiscontinuedOperationsHeldForSaleOrDisposedOfBySaleMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=gef_FlexibleProductsAndServicesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=gef_PaperPackagingAndServicesMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=gef_LandManagementMember
Namespace Prefix: |
Data Type: | na
Balance Type: |
Period Type: |