Being an eco-minded consumer is not just about the vineyard. It appears that the wine industry is betting on consumers wanting and appreciating grapes grown in a prescribed way that allows for designations such as: sustainable, biodynamic, green, organic or natural.
As if grapes were not the only component of winemaking under the long arm of the “wine police”, the winery receives special attention in aspects such as the use of renewable energy (wind and solar), the recycling of water , fermentation additives and closures; if you close.
Have you ever thought: what is the beyond of a cork? Well, there is one. There is an entirely new industry that has sprung up in America that recycles, reuses, and disposes of used cork. You thought you were helping the planet by tossing your used corks into that glass jar only to occasionally peek through them to remember that special wine.
The reuse of cork runs counter to the recycling trend. In a re-published article in “Salon,” author Anna Sanford writes that recycling in California is down about 5 percentage points and recycling centers are closing mainly because recycled materials like plastic bottles are less valuable due to the price of petroleum: plastic is derived from oil. But recycled cork is booming. One organization that focuses on reusing cork for the good of the planet is a non-profit forestry organization, Cork Forest Conservation Alliance, (CFCA) that operates Cork Re-Harvest.
Cork is an interesting product because a tree is never cut for cork. Corks are made from the bark, which is harvested by hand, every 9-11 years. Trees can be harvested for up to 150 years, without damaging the tree. The cork oak is of the oak family, (Quercus suber) so the cork will impart some of the same characteristics as an oak barrel. From an environmental point of view, the carbon footprint of producing a cork is significantly less than that of producing metal screw caps or plastic wine stoppers. With consumer-friendly recycling methods, the carbon footprint for the reuse of used wine corks, through the Cork Re-Harvest the program is virtually zero. Also, there are no active recycling programs for screw caps or plastic plugs in the US.
Every year 13,000 million wine stoppers are produced, of which 51% come from Portugal and 30% from Spain. Cork is natural, non-toxic, biodegradable and is a totally renewable product for the wine industry.
The same cannot be said for aluminum screw caps and plastic closures. When making a cork for a bottle of wine there are approximately 26 steps and in an environmental study by “The Academic Wino”, cork is the best closure from an ecological perspective. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies show that each cork sequesters 9 g of CO2.
According to Wikipedia, a carbon footprint study concluded that cork is the most environmentally friendly wine stopper compared to metal or plastic. The Corticeira Amorim study, (“Life cycle analysis of cork, aluminum and plastic wine stoppers”), was developed by PricewaterhouseCoopers, following the ISO 14040 standards. The results concluded that, in relation to the emission of greenhouse effect, each plastic stopper releases 10 times more CO2, while an aluminum screw cap releases 26 times more CO2 than a cork stopper in the manufacturing process. The 26 steps, in the analysis of the carbon footprint, pertain to the manufacture of the cork and include its transfer to the winery.
As mentioned above, there are two major players in the relatively new cork reuse industry – Cork ReHarvest, which is a 501c3 non-profit organization and ReCork. I came across Cork ReHarvest while at a Whole Foods store and saw a used cork collection box. I called the Cork Quality Council in Sonoma, CA to find out what it was about. The executive director of the organization is Peter Weber. Peter confirmed that there are two large groups that are active in aggregating used corks through relationships with various retail, hospitality and warehouse locations. “There are probably a dozen smaller organizations that collect used corks for various special applications,” Peter said.
Cork ReHarvest is a non-profit organization that uses the used corks they collect for educational programs to raise awareness about cork oak forests, promote cork applications (wine stoppers) and explain the ecological benefits of wine cork as an app. Cork recycling occurs fairly quickly. ReHarvest reports that approximately 98% of purchased wine is consumed within 48 hours. That means the corks can go back to the recycled system quickly.
Cork ReHarvest partners with approximately 1,500 collection centers. “In addition to Whole Foods, there are major restaurants like Emeril Lagasse, Mario Batali, Bobby Flay and Caesars Palace that support our recycling program along with major wineries that send us used corks for recycling – we prefer to call it reuse.” says Patrick Spencer of Cork ReHarvest, whose offices are in Salem, Oregon. “We sell collected cork stoppers to 6 recycling partners in the US who then distribute them to customers in the US only.” For a winemaker, a “Triple A” grade cork can cost between $ 1.00 and $ 1.50 each. A recycler will sell these used corks for approximately $ 0.09 each in 1,000 quantities.
The question remains: What are used corks for? Some of the recycled cork gets into concrete due to its insulating properties. The recycled paper industry uses ground cork combined with reconstituted paper to make packaging material. The sports and fishing industry uses reprocessed cork for spools and grips, darts, and household items as trivets. The construction industry uses recycled cork for payments lower than those of the floor. Even those sandals you like can have a cork sole lining.
Four times a year, the Alianza para la Conservación del Bosque de Ccho, a non-profit organization, conducts ecological tours to 3 cork oak regions of Spain to give travelers a total immersion in culture, food, wine and the forestry of these remarkable forests, http: //www.frombarktobottle .org
Cork is the ecological gift that continues to give; it has life after the wine runs out.