Nomacorc onsite cork recycling program

Nomacorc’s onsite cork recycling program

Across the alcohol beverage industry, companies are stepping up with sustainability initiatives that benefit the big picture. One of these, Vinventions (parent company of Nomacorc and its Green Line of low- and zero-carbon-footprint wine closures), has chosen to focus on decreasing the amount of waste from wine packaging—specifically, closures—by creating both pre- and post-consumer collection programs.

Corks (of any kind) are generally too small to be easily collected by regional or municipal recycling programs, so many municipalities encourage consumers to use drop-off sites rather than their home collection bins. Nomacorc and Vinventions have cork-recycling programs established at 30 different retail locations in the United States, and since 2009, there have been more than 250 collection bins in-place nationally at retailers like Spec’s and Total Wine. In addition to these drop-off locations, most of the company’s winery clients return their leftover corks from bottling.

In total, six to 10 tons of cork is diverted from landfills annually because of the program. Proceeds from the cork recycling program benefit cancer research organizations in Texas and AtWorkWA.org, a Seattle-based nonprofit connecting people with disabilities and mainstream employers in the community.