Some things seem too small to matter when it comes to recycling—like wine corks. They’re tiny, biodegradable, and easy to toss in the trash without a second thought. But the story of cork is more complex and more important than it seems.
Cork comes from the Cork Oak tree, which takes about 25 years before its bark can be harvested for the first time. Even then, cork can only be stripped from the tree once every nine years, and only the bark from that first harvest is typically used for wine corks.
Although used wine corks can’t be reused for sealing bottles due to bacterial concerns, they can be recycled into a wide range of useful products – coasters, corkboards, shoe soles, and even flooring.
Cork is a renewable resource, but it renews slowly. Recycling the cork we already have is a smart way to make the most of this sustainable material and reduce unnecessary waste.
