Why the wine closures industry has come full circle

The closures industry is embracing a ‘circular economy’ by recycling, reusing and repurposing waste from the manufacturing process, reports Louis Thomas. "Waste not, want not,” as the old adage goes. It’s a mantra which many in the wine industry practise religiously when it comes to the vineyard and winery, whether it is upcycling leftover grape pomace into grappa, or reusing water from cleaning equipment to irrigate vines, but it is also embodied by the manufacturers of corks, screwcaps and foils that seal and adorn bottles. Looking at the raw material used to make natural corks, for example, it is easy to see how harvesting the bark of cork oaks embodies these anti-waste principles. According to information from cork producer and exporter MA Silva, it takes 25 years for a cork oak to become mature enough to be harvested, with each tree having a lifespan of around 200 years, providing 60kg of cork per harvest, which, considering it will be harvested an average of 16 times over the course of its life, adds up to a lot of corks. Perhaps most interestingly from a sustainability perspective, harvesting actually improves the cork oak’s ability to absorb carbon dioxide. MA Silva’s global marketing manager Nuno Silva explains: “When stripped, cork oaks absorb three to five times more carbon dioxide than unstripped trees. According to a study published by the Istituto Superior de Agronomia in Lisbon, cork oak forests can fix around six tonnes of CO2 per hectare, per year, which in the case of Portugal corresponds to more than four million tonnes of CO2 per year.” And it isn’t just stoppers made from natural cork which can bring an environmental benefit. In 2023, Sicilian producer Donnafugata made headlines when it became the first producer to use Nomacorc Ocean, a synthetic closure developed by Vinventions, which is made from ‘ocean-bound’ plastic – which is defined as waste that’s likely to end up in the sea. Since then, more than 30 other Italian producers have adopted this type of closure for their bottles, as well as a host of others, including 520-winemakerstrong Bordeaux cooperative Tutiac. Vinventions head of production management and sustainability Romain Thomas argues that Nomacorc Ocean “is not just a wine closure, but a statement of action and innovation in the fight against marine plastic pollution. “On one hand, it actively reduces plastic waste by collecting ocean-bound plastic from coastal areas and regions lacking robust waste management systems,” he says. “On the other, it closes the loop by using advanced recycling technology to transform this waste into food-grade material, eliminating the need for new fossil-based plastics. “But here’s the real gamechanger,” adds Thomas. “Every Nomacorc Ocean closure contributes directly to cleaning our planet by recycling the equivalent of 8g of ocean-bound plastic.” Thomas notes that the production of a Nomacorc Ocean closure requires around 20% less energy than manufacturing a closure from ‘virgin’ plastic. Also making use of that which might otherwise be wasted is Crealis Group, which utilises up to 60% recycled polyethylene (a post-industrial waste product) in its R-derma foil and capsule. Its PET+ heat-shrinking capsules, meanwhile, are made from up to 35% recycled post-consumer waste. “By choosing R-derma and PET+, manufacturers contribute to reducing waste and giving materials a second life while also significantly lowering CO2 emissions compared to products made from virgin materials,” says Crealis Group CEO Michele Moglia.

Factory settings

But the circular economy goes beyond responsibly making use of resources, natural or man-made, to manufacture closures – the waste from the production process itself can also be given a new lease of life. At Amorim, the world’s largest cork producer, a fully integrated production process ensures that all by-products are used. “Even the smallest granules are reintroduced into our production process as an important source of energy,” explains Christophe Fouquet, co-CEO of Amorim Cork. “Even cork dust that results from our production processes is used as biomass to generate energy. This CO2 -neutral source of energy accounts for a significant portion of the energy needs at our production plants.

Currently, almost 70% comes from this important source, in line with our wider circular economy principles.” Cork Supply, part of the Harv 81 Group, also employs this practice, using cork dust as fuel – the company states that, in 2023, approximately 43% of the energy consumption in its Technical Cork Unit was powered by biomass derived from cork by-products. Cork Supply’s Life Cycle Assessment initiative has been designed to identify areas throughout the value chain where the carbon footprint can be reduced, aiding in the company’s transition towards a circular economy. MA Silva is another to do this, with the combustion of the cork dust raising the temperature of its Dynavox system, used to sterilise both natural and technical corks, to the crucial 105°C temperature needed to vaporise unwanted molecules, such as trichloroanisole (TCA), the organic compound responsible for cork taint in wines.

Turning the screw

The nature of screwcaps means that offcuts cannot be combusted like those from cork but, with a little bit of outside help, waste can be kept to a minimum. Herti, which manufactures a range of closures including aluminium screwcaps, has got recycling down to a fine art. Pieces of aluminium which can’t be made into caps are sent to specialised recycling companies to be melted down and sold to other businesses. Herti also tracks the percentage of recycled material in the aluminium sheets it procures, meaning there is a high chance that metal which didn’t make the cut the first time around ends up back on the production line. Additionally, Herti notes that it extracts the diluents from varnishes to be used again, has plastic waste such as polyethylene packaging bags professionally recycled, and even has cardboard boxes processed into new paper products. Likewise, Crealis Group reuses the solvents needed for its printing process multiple times, recycling them and thus reducing the need for new solvents. As Herti shows, the circular economy of closures isn’t just about keeping things strictly within the business – it can also extend to entirely unexpected sectors of the economy. For example, you might be surprised to discover that there could well be a link between the UK supermarket chain Waitrose trialled a natural cork return scheme at bottle of wine you buy from the supermarket and the make-up you use on your face.

Diam Bouchage takes some of the extracts from its Diamant process, which uses supercritical CO2 at differentiated pressure to extract more than 150 molecules which could affect the flavour of the wine, and sells them on to the cosmetics industry due to their antioxidant properties. “The partnership between Diam Bouchage and [cosmetics manufacturer] Oleos-Hallstar has made it possible to evaluate the cosmetic potential of this coproduct in the form of a wax containing bioactive cork compounds,” explains Diam Bouchage’s corporate social responsibility manager Caroline Forgues. “The industrial development led to the filing of a European application patent in 2014. The ingredient named Diam Oléoactif is a natural concentrate of antiinflammatory compounds which has been adapted to the care of sensitive and reactive skin.” The upcycling of cork manufacture by-products isn’t just for a pretty face – it has been taken to grand heights. “Currently, we have programmes spread across five continents, allowing us to collect around 1,000 tonnes of cork stoppers every year to be recycled and reintegrated into our production process,” says Amorim Cork’s Fouquet. “Although we cannot use them 38-48 Closures_RW.qxp_Layout 1 31/01/2025 15:40 Page 44 to produce new cork stoppers, our innovative approach leverages cork’s main characteristics: insulation, thermal effectiveness, impermeability, lightness, resistance and softness, among others.” These attributes have found cork a place in numerous other industries, far beyond the world of wine.

“We strive to promote the use of cork to create new added-value products in diverse sectors such as construction, fashion, aeronautics or the automobile industry,” continues Fouquet. “Through cutting-edge technologies, we generate composite agglomerates, contributing positively to reducing pollution and conserving resources.”

Space travel

One thing which Amorim Cork has pushed for is the use of such cork composite agglomerates in space travel. As a material, cork is very good at insulating and dampening vibrations, traits which meant that it was used in the Apollo 11 space craft which took Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the Moon in 1969. More than half a century later, and Corticeira Amorim has a long-running relationship with the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and is working with the European Space Agency on its Mars exploration programme. Strange to consider that the same bark which might end up sealing the wine on your table could also become part of a thermal protection heat shield on a space craft. While the use of cork in space is a giant leap for the closures industry, there are small steps that wine drinkers can take to complete the circle. Of course, it’s not uncommon for the cork or cap from one bottle to be used to seal another in a pinch, but the general message for the consumer is to recycle each closure, just as they would a glass or plastic bottle.

Vinventions advises that, once the consumer has popped their bottle open, they can then recycle the Nomacorc Ocean cork with other plastics, thus preventing it from once again ending up as ocean-bound plastic. The advice for recycling screwcaps will depend on where you are – some regions say to leave the cap on the bottle and have them recycled together, while others request separating them. A Vinolok glass stopper is fully recyclable. For natural cork stoppers, it can be complex. Silva at MA Silva explains: “Cork is 100% natural, 100% ecological, 100% biodegradable, 100% reusable and 100% recyclable. So, technically, it is possible to reuse it in several distinct applications. The challenge here is to create conditions and raise awareness with the final consumer. What to do with the cork stoppers after they have been used? Where to put them? There are some programmes that try to recover them, but this is not easy to operationalise. We are talking about something like having a disposal facility in supermarkets, in the streets, similar to the ecopoints that already exist to receive paper, plastic, glass, organic waste, etc. Something like this would help to materialise the final step of the life cycle of the cork stoppers.” That extra infrastructure is required so that consumers, and also members of the wine trade, can play their part in the circular economy. Diam Bouchage is one such company which has invested in this area in France, as Forgues explains: “Since 2019, Diam Bouchage has been a partner of the Champagne trade association (CIVC) and also of Epsyvin for the collection and recycling of used corks in the Champagne-Ardenne region,” she says. “In 2020, we provided our customers in the Champagne region with collection points for corks. These are then grouped together at our Cumières site before being sent to a recycling centre. A similar initiative was also set up in Gironde, in partnership with Agir Cancer Gironde back in 2021.” Diam Bouchage has also partnered with the France Cancer charity for several years. Diam provides cork recycling points in restaurants, town halls and supermarkets. These corks are then handed over to France Cancer to be crushed and sold to other businesses to be repurposed as insulation and shoe soles, for example, with the proceeds donated to cancer research units in France. “This solution allows us to give a second life to our products while limiting the impacts of their collection. Through this, we also enable France Cancer to increase its funding sources,” says Forgues. Perhaps fittingly, one use for old corks is repurposing them as mulch, thus protecting the very soil from which their trees sprang up decades prior.

Finding closure

The benefits that a circular economy can bring the closures industry are numerous: cutting the cost of materials and energy; supporting sustainability goals; and enhancing the value of its products by showing its consumer base that a cap or stopper isn’t just something which should be thrown away once the bottle is opened. There are still improvements to be made, of course, especially on the consumer side, but consumers can always learn new habits. Take, for example, the uptake in household recycling in the UK: in 2000-01, the UK household recycling rate was 11.2%, whereas today it is four times that level, according to data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). The winedrinking public might need a nudge or two in the right direction, but the recycling of closures could well become second nature – where the industry leads, the layman shall follow.

Feature findings

• Closures manufacturers are finding new ways both to reduce the amount of waste they produce, and to make use of what waste they do produce, either within their own industry, or by selling by-products to other sectors of the economy. • For instance, cork producers are making use of the cork dust created from closure manufacturing by burning it in order to fuel machinery in their factories. • Other closures firms are funnelling their waste into everything from cosmetic products to space crafts. • The next step is getting consumers involved with recycling closures via local return schemes.

Circular certification

Italy-based company Tapì, which manufactures closures for wine, beer, spirits, condiments and cosmetics, has gained ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification), an internationally recognised system ensuring the traceability, sustainability and circularity of materials across the entire supply chain. In the case of Tapì, it gained this certification for chemically recycling plastic closures, a process which results in plastic of the same quality and appearance as ‘virgin’ plastic. Tapì notes that this certification is also transferrable to other companies which adopt these chemically recycled plastic closures.

Waitrose trials cork return scheme

• UK supermarket chain Waitrose trialled a natural cork return scheme at seven of its stores across the south of England in autumn 2024 in partnership with Amorim.
• Waitrose beer, wine and spirit (BWS) bulk sourcing manager Barry Dick MW shares the feedback to the trial: “We got good engagement from our customers where they knew about the opportunity to recycle corks. Our comms could have been bigger/bolder but given there is a lot to communicate to customers on topics such as price and promotion it's a competitive space for us internally.”
• “Despite that,” Dick continues, “we have recovered good quantities of corks from the trial stores and anecdotal evidence from the BWS specialists was that the concept was well received.” A final decision on whether to roll the scheme out to further Waitrose stores is yet to be made.