Corks
What items can we take?
Wine corks
Assorted sizes
Stained
Champagne corks
What isn’t in this category?
Plastic
Metal
Mixed material
Cork boards or coasters
Metal bottle caps
Loose plastic bottle caps
We can take these in our Swappable Category of loose plastic bottle caps!
Corks.
Every year, Americans drink on average, 4.2 billion bottles of wine and 65% of those use natural cork closures. Cork is still the favored option for keeping the wine the bottle--cork allows for the subtle exposure of the wine to oxygen to help it mature, limits the amount of harmful plastics and polymers that might seep into the wine, and is 100% recyclable.
Unlike plastic and metal corks which rarely get recycled and are difficult to handle when they do, cork can be recycled into shoes, flooring, packaging, and other goods that might otherwise be made of plastics. Amazingly, cork harvesting also has a positive effect on our carbon footprint since harvested cork trees fix five times more carbon than unmanaged trees!
Partnering with ReCORK
ReCORK collects and recycles natural wine and champagne corks to prolong the life of an incredibly sustainable material that too-often ends up in landfills. ReCORK uses the corks they collect to create an innovative new material which offers a natural, sustainable, versatile alternative to petroleum-based foams used in footwear, and beyond. ReCORK was founded in 2008 by sustainable footwear company SOLE, and together these two organizations hope to shape a more sustainable future for the footwear industry. Working with their extensive network of collection partners across the US and Canada, ReCORK is now North America’s largest cork recycling initiative and has collected more than 130 million corks for recycling!
Partnering with Jelinek Cork Group
Established in 1855, Jelinek Cork Group is one of the oldest continually active cork companies in the world. Currently, much of the world's natural cork wine stoppers end up in the landfill. In 2005 Jelinek Cork Group became a major player in North America's natural wine cork recycling initiatives and has continued to keep natural corks out of the landfill since. By collecting and upcycling this cork, Jelinek Cork Group helps keep cork out of the landfill by grinding up the cork into granulated cork or cork grain. This cork grain is then used to make many other cork products including cork flooring, cork wall tiles and bulletin boards.
Join the movement to build a future without waste.
