Oh put a cork in it!
…that's how I feel when I hear myself telling people about waste and recycling: that people want me to shut up. Sometimes I think it’s because they aren’t interested, but sometimes, it’s because they feel guilty that aren’t also aware of these issues. But please don’t feel guilty! There should be infrastructure in place where the companies take ownership of the environmental impact of materials they use for their products and packaging. But sadly, it isn’t yet so, so here’s some information on recycling corks and how you can do it.
What is cork?
Cork is a 100% natural, biodegradable and renewable resource. According to ReCork, North America's largest natural wine cork recycling program, cork is made by stripping off the layers of the bark of a cork oak tree, by hand. This process does not harm the tree. In fact, bark harvesting helps the tree grow bigger and extends its lifespan so they can live up to 300 years! And this process actually helps the environment, because the larger a tree grows, the more carbon dioxide it locks away! So unlike paper products, which require cutting down trees, cork products actually help support tree growth and improve our environment. So I think this means keep drinking wine?
Here is a picture of a cork tree which looks a little naked but glad to know it grows back like a sheep when it gets its coat sheared. However it needs time to grow back, so the cork bark is only harvested once every 9 years or so.
When did we start using corks for wine ?
Cork has been used since the 1st century BC and bythe 17th century, wine corks became the sealer of choice because it was quickly discovered that corks could seal the wine in the bottle, severely retards the oxidation process, allowing the wine to age and evolve slowly over time. Fun fact: in 17th century France, the monk Dom Pierre Pérignon, treasurer of the Hautvillers Abbey, began to use cork to seal bottles of his famous Dom Pérignon champagne. You can read a more in depth history of cork here, and watch this great TED Talk here.
Why is cork important for the environment?
Approximately 6.6 million acres of Mediterranean cork forest extend across Portugal, Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Tunisia and France. These oak forests contain one of the world’s highest levels of forest biodiversity (second only to the Amazonian Rainforest) including endemic plants and endangered species such as the Iberian Lynx, the Iberian Imperial Eagle, and the Barbary Deer. It is also vital source of income for thousands of family farmers, who for generations have worked these forests. These forests absorb millions of tons of CO2 each year and are a vast provider of oxygen to our planet. And as mentioned previously, harvesting cork actually helps the trees.
Why are some companies using alternatives to corks?
Unlike natural corks, screw caps are not susceptible to TCA or cork taint, and of course, they are cheaper. Screw caps were created in the 1950s by a French company called Le Bouchage Mecanique. They are made of aluminum, usually with a small plastic liner on the inside. It's this sneaky plastic liner that is a real bummer as they cannot be as easily recycled. And even if there isn't a plastic liner, small caps often are not as easily recyclable. The production of screwcaps gives off over 10kg of CO2 per ton compared with 2.5kg of CO2 per ton for corks, according to tests conducted by Cairn Environment for Oeneo Bouchage in France.
Similarly, synthetic wine corks which are made from materials that are not biodegradable and are not sustainably sourced, are cheaper upfront. However, like most things in this world, the cheap upfront cost will be a loss in the future of our planet (!!).
What else can we make with cork?
You probably have seen cork used most often in wine bottles, bulletin boards, or soles of shoes. But it can also be used in technology, in insulation or floors, and for sports equipment. ReCork’s proprietary material, ReCORK™ Recycled Cork, redefines what’s possible using cork, offering a natural, sustainable, versatile alternative to foams and plastics derived from fossil fuels. ReCORK’s mission is to make petroleum-based foams and plastics obsolete.
So how did I learn about recycling corks?
Years ago (pre-pandemic) I was buying some wine at Whole Foods on the Upper West Side of Manhattan when I noticed a box outside for recycling corks. The bin is run by Cork ReHarvest, a 501c3 nonprofit environmental organization that represents all the countries of the 6.6 million acres of cork forests in the Mediterranean Basin. Like ReCork, they also collect cork to be made into other products. They are fully committed to a zero carbon footprint so they do not ship the cork they collect out of the U.S., but recycle the cork and help create new products and jobs here in America. By increasing awareness of the value and usefulness of cork, they hope create more demand and therefore more trees and more carbon will be captured.
Since learning about this, I started keeping a bag of corks with the goal of eventually recycling them. The bag grew to multiple bags (ahem it’s been a rough year) and since I didn't want to walk 1.3 miles carrying heavy bags of corks (this is the closet location for me), the bags continued to multiply - much to the chagrin of my roommate. But once our apartment started to smell like a bar, and I invested in a rolling cart, I decided it was time to take action. Here’s a Tik Tok of me recycling them.
Where can you recycle corks?
If you would like to recycle your corks as well, you can try this link and this link to find your closest recycling drop off. These links are just for the U.S., so please comment below or email me if you have resources for other places in the world as I’d love to share them!
How else can you support the cork industry?
When buying wine at a store or a restaurant, let them know how you prefer wine with natural cork. As consumers we actually make a big impact on those buying the wine and therefore an impact on important ecological regions. I'll drink to that!
xx
Hannah
