Beyond collecting wine stoppers for decorating and craft projects, my cork recycling efforts have been minimal at best. But recently I heard about a number of new initiatives aimed at sending used wine and champagne corks into the recycling bin.A New York Times blog highlighted the Portugese company, Amorim, in its ReCORK America prohect to recycle corks with a shoe manufacturer from Canada. The footwear company, SOLE, will re-purpose the used corks into soles of shoes. But there is an added benefit of reduced transportation costs since cork from the U.S. will be shipped a shorter distance — to Canada rather than South America.
But the ReCORK America project is not the only one of its kind. A similar initiative in St. Louis, Mo., was started in hopes of making recycling wine corks as common as separating paper and plastic. The project is named "Rewind Your Wine," and the recycled corks are sent to a building materials manufacturer where they are most often transformed into flooring. According to an stltoday.com article, nearly 15 billion corks end up in landfills each year.
While these projects are underway, some wine bottlers are switching to synthetic, plastic corks in hopes of saving some money, and also reducing chances for cork molding or deterioration. But the number of synthetic corks on the market has not reduced the need for natural corks, according to a 2006 World Wildlife Fund report cited in a Washington Post blog. It states the number of natural corks produced annually for use in the U.S. has increased from about 15 billion to about 18 billion.
So what does this mean for the average consumer? We might see an increase in cork recycling drop boxes, especially at retailers such as Whole Foods, which partnered with a few of the initiatives. Or maybe someday there will be cork-eating machines next to the aluminum can returnables at grocery stores. If you do not know where to recycle used corks, check with a local recycling center or waste management company to see if there are any facilities in your area.
Or you could just make a cork wreath.
