Why you should recycle corks - bioaddict.fr
Cork, a virtuous material
Cork stoppers are natural, ecological, recyclable and infinitely transformable. They come from the cork oak (Quercus Suber), a unique tree because its bark, the cork, regenerates once extracted. The tree is never cut to produce corks, but it is debarked (from the age of 25 and every 9 years) according to a delicate process allowing the regeneration of its bark.
During its 200 years of life, a cork oak can produce an average of 20,000 corks.
The manufacture of a cork stopper is thus much less polluting than the manufacture of plastic stoppers or aluminum caps.
The ecological benefits of cork oak
The cork oak is an endemic species of the Mediterranean basin, it is found mainly in Portugal (the world's leading producer), but also in Spain, Corsica, Italy, Morocco and Algeria. The geographical distribution of the species is defined by its ecological requirements which are of four orders: requirement in light, heat, humidity and refusal of calcareous soils.
Cork oak forests are called cork oak forests. True reservoirs of biodiversity, these cork oak stands have a very important advantage: they serve as a rampart against fires in the arid regions of southern Europe by slowing the spread of fire. Thanks to the protection conferred by its corky bark, the cork oak is indeed the only tree to be resistant to flames.
Another ecological interest: the cork oak has the ability to absorb 30% more CO2 than other trees and to release a lot of oxygen, which makes it a very interesting species in the context of global warming.
To discover all the advantages of this extraordinary tree, I advise you to watch Alice Ayel's video on Youtube.
Why and how to recycle corks?
You should know that cork stoppers protect more than 2.3 billion bottles in France each year, and more than 13 billion in the world, that makes them stoppers to collect!
But why collect them? simply to give them a second life!
[media]Cork is indeed the circular material par excellence. Once collected, the cork is crushed to be recycled. It is then used to make sound or heat insulation plates (it is an excellent insulator!), parquet underlays, fashion accessories or even decorative objects.
The Blackcork brand offers ecological and ultra-design cork furniture. For fashion accessories (bags, jewelry, wallets, shoes and even watches), here are some favorite brands: Madam en liège (handmade bags in France, in Layrac in Lot-et-Garonne), Oak Forest ("made in Portugal"), Cortika (a Bordeaux company), Karmyliege (handmade natural cork bracelets in Charente-Maritime and bags handcrafted in Portugal).
Note: for reasons of controlling suitability for food contact, recycled cork will never become a cork again.
Cork recycling operations are coordinated by the Fédération Française du Liège, which collects them and then sells them by the ton to companies that will recycle them to create new products. All of the money collected by the Federation is then reused to finance humanitarian and/or charitable actions and sustainable development actions such as the planting of cork oaks in France.
More than €600,000 have already been redistributed to partner associations for social & ecological and more than 6,500 cork oaks planted in France.
France, world champion in cork recycling
With more than 2,000 collection points (individuals, associations, wine merchants, supermarkets, restaurants or even wine and spirits producers) participating in this recycling and making it possible each year to recover more than 60 million corks, France occupies the first place in the world of cork stopper recycling.
The French Federation of Cork does not intend to stop there: in the summer of 2021 it launched the collective brand "Recyclable cork". Taking the form of a logotype that can be used free of charge by producers and subject to compliance with strict specifications, this system, unique in the world, allows the consumer to know before buying a bottle whether it is corked with a cork in cork and to know the methods of collection. This system aims to triple the number of cork stopper collection points in France.
"Recycling the cork stopper is a simple but so beneficial gesture, the general public must acquire this reflex" explains Nicolas Mensior, President of the French Cork Federation.
To find more information on the recycling of cork stoppers and to discover the collection points in France, go to the recycling.planeteliege.com website.
Tristan Claviere
Photo credit @Steve Cukrov
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