Kork Recycling

The origin of the cork

Cork oaks grow mainly in the Mediterranean region in Portugal, Spain and North Africa. Thanks to the excellent properties of their bark, they are ideally adapted to the drought, heat and temperature changes in these areas. The bark even makes them resistant to forest fires. Some of the oak groves are still extremely valuable habitats with an immense variety of plants, insects, reptiles and birds; In addition, these indigenous large-crowned trees protect the soil from erosion in the best possible way.

The cork, which made the cork oak the most economically important oak species in the Mediterranean area, is not a special formation of this species, but also has the same function in many other deciduous trees. In the functional state, the cells of the cork fabric are dead, anhydrous and filled with air. Thanks to a special, wax-like substance (suberine), the walls of the cork cells are so impregnated that water can no longer flow through them and, on the other hand, the tissue cannot be wetted by water. Cork can therefore never soak up water like a sponge. The amount of water that can be absorbed is quite small.

Cork peeling work

The cork peeling work is done in summer. The first peeling takes place on trees around 20 years old, but the first cork obtained is still quite brittle and can only be used for tanning purposes. Only after the second peeling does the desired smooth, flexible and easy to process cork form. Depending on the site conditions, it takes about 6 to 12 years for a 3 cm thick layer of cork to develop. The bark of the cork oak provides the natural raw material for cork cones without being damaged. The cones are carefully punched out of the boiled and dried beef ribbons. The traditional use of cork oaks is therefore indisputably of high ecological value and cork collecting makes an active contribution to species protection.

In Switzerland

Around 150 million corks are used in Switzerland each year, and together they weigh around 400 tons. It is a light natural product that also has elastic, flame-retardant, buoyant, shock-absorbing, insulating and sealing properties. The re-awakened awareness of cork as a valuable material will certainly help to promote cork sales. Recycling cannot be blamed if more plastic materials are used to replace wine stoppers. On the contrary, new uses or recognized uses could enable increased sales of recycled cork.

It remains undisputed that this natural product is too good to be used as a bottle stopper only once. Collecting corks also means reducing mountains of waste and raising awareness for environmental protection. At the beginning of the 90s, a murmur went through the ranks of wine drinkers. It was said that the cork would be removed from the screw cap. Traditional wine lovers saw the wine culture crumbling, while modern oenologists found all problems solved thanks to the screw cap. Many guests lack the knowledge about the closure, whereupon they often set up their own theses based on what they heard, which sometimes do not quite correspond to reality.

Ecology

Cork is an almost 100% recyclable natural product. It is a gentle, reproductive, completely biodegradable, ie ecologically absolutely harmless material.

Nature is not a well-worn catchphrase in the modern market. Mass products in particular need to be strictly tested for biodegradability and / or recyclability. The future of people and their environment stands or falls with the use of gentle and environmentally friendly raw materials.

Future

So cork has a future! This natural raw material is obtained from the bark of the cork oak «quercus suber L» in the Mediterranean region (mainly Iberian peninsula). Approximately 42 million cells per cubic centimeter of cork result in excellent properties of low weight, elasticity and impermeability to gas and liquids. With the cork bark, nature creates an indestructible material that is at the same time a heat, cold and vibration insulator, but also an incomparable and modern bottle stopper for high-quality bottled wines.

Who we are.

The Fachhaus is an amalgamation of different work areas in one house. The collected cork cones are picked up at the collection points by our logistics department and forwarded to other institutions for sorting out plastic cones or other foreign matter. After sorting, the cork cones are granulated and made available for further use. The cork granulate is used for cavity insulation, aggregate for floor mats and clay blocks, etc.

As a specialist house, we take care of the logistical work. Institutions that employ people with disabilities do the sorting. The institution Schloss Herdern takes care of the granulation and further use of the cork granulate.

By collecting and recycling corks, an ecologically sensible raw material is used again and also enables different people to work.

In 2015 around 20 tons of cork cones were collected and reused.