Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Details) employee in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2020 USD ($) a employee asset_group affiliate Block Country class	Oct. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Nov. 01, 2019 USD ($)
Basis Of Presentation And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of countries in which company operates (country) | Country	40
Approximate number of employees (employees) | employee	16
Subsidiary, percent of revenue	1.00%
Subsidiary, percent of assets	1.00%
Allowance for trade accounts receivable	$ 9,400,000	$ 6,800,000
Investment in short term financial instruments, term	3 months
Losses on short term investments	$ 0	0	$ 0
Depreciation expense on properties, plants and equipment	169,100,000	149,000,000.0	107,500,000
Capitalized interest costs	$ 4,500,000	5,600,000	4,500,000
Measurement area of timber properties in the south eastern United States which are actively managed in acres | a	244,000
Number of product classes (class) | class	5
Self insurance reserve	$ 7,200,000	7,600,000
Liabilities for anticipated costs	$ 24,700,000	27,500,000
Number of affiliates in which company has equity interest | affiliate	3
Translation adjustment functional to reporting currency, losses reclassified to earnings, net of tax	$ 4,200,000	$ 2,100,000	8,800,000
Lease liabilities	310,000,000.0
Adoption of ASU 2016-16		gef:Accountingstandardsupdate201616_1
Operating lease assets	$ 307,500,000	$ 0
Number of depletion blocks (block) | Block	8
Long-term incentive plan, requisite service period	3 years
Timber Properties
Basis Of Presentation And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Useful life	20 years
United States
Basis Of Presentation And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Depletion expense, timber	$ 4,000,000.0	$ 3,700,000	$ 4,000,000.0
Rigid Industrial Packaging & Services
Basis Of Presentation And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of asset groups with assets held for sale (asset group) | asset_group	1
Flexible Products & Services
Basis Of Presentation And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of asset groups with assets held for sale (asset group) | asset_group	4
Land Management
Basis Of Presentation And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of asset groups with assets held for sale (asset group) | asset_group	1
Minimum | Software and Software Development Costs
Basis Of Presentation And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Useful life	3 years
Maximum | Software and Software Development Costs
Basis Of Presentation And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Useful life	10 years
Accounting Standards Update 2018-11
Basis Of Presentation And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Lease liabilities				$ 305,800,000
Operating lease assets				$ 301,200,000
Corporate and Other
Basis Of Presentation And Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of asset groups with assets held for sale (asset group) | asset_group	0