How to Dispose of Corks Properly—Too Good to Throw Away

Why It's Worth Recycling Cork

• Cork is a renewable resource and therefore an environmentally friendly material.
• For example, cork waste is used to produce insulation materials for homes. This insulation material has a very low thermal conductivity and also creates a comfortable indoor climate.
• Recycling cork helps preserve cork oak forests. This ensures that there will be enough natural cork in the future.
• Even today, approximately 1.2 billion wine corks end up in the trash each year in Germany and are thus missing from the recycling cycle.

Help ensure the sustainable use of cork oak stands

Cork is a raw material harvested from the bark of the cork oak. The cork oaks used for commercial purposes grow in the western Mediterranean region. It takes 25 years from planting to the first harvest. After that, the bark is harvested from the trunks every 7 to 10 years.

Since demand for cork continues to rise and its popularity is growing, it is important to fully utilize this raw material in a sustainable manner.

This means that old products made from natural cork are collected and processed into granules so they can be reused. Many everyday items—such as flooring, wall coverings, and kitchen utensils—made from recycled cork can thus be reused in a sustainable way.

Please bring your natural cork waste to a collection point

Please help us use cork oak stands sustainably so that cork remains available in sufficient quantities in the future.

Here’s what you can do

• Collect natural cork waste
• Find a collection point near you (A list of all cork collection points in Erlangen can be found at the bottom of the page)
• Drop off the cork there for free

What should be taken to the cork collection point?

YES:

Cork collection points accept natural corks and cork granulate. The cork must be free of any plaster, adhesive, or chemical residues.

NO:

Plastic corks, coated cork, bottle caps, cork wallpaper, and expanded cork materials belong in the general waste or—if they are plastic packaging—in the yellow bag.