The recycling and reuse of the raw material - cork - is one of Corticeira Amorim's responses to market challenges and stakeholder requirements, thereby reducing its environmental footprint, applying circular models and fostering the development of innovative solutions that add value to the raw material.
Good management and recovery of waste, with a view to prolonging its use in the economy, is important for Corticeira Amorim and is integrated into its circular economy practices. The recycling processes implemented have made it possible to increase reuse of the raw material, prolonging cork’s life cycle and its environmental benefits, in particular its CO2 retention capacity.
Although recycled cork can never be used again to make cork stoppers, it can have a second life, used in floor and wall coverings, insulation, memo boards, high competition kayaks, badminton rackets, tennis and cricket balls, car and aircraft components, design parts and fashion and a multitude of other purposes. As a result, Corticeira Amorim fosters several recycling projects, which have a social character and also foster education and environmental awareness for all stakeholders and the community in general.
Launched in 2024 in New York, the Cork Collective cork stopper recycling programme brings together the passion and energy of four founding partners who excel in their respective fields. In addition to Corticeira Amorim, the programme’s partners include Rockwell - the prestigious architecture and design company, BlueWell - a company which specialises in sustainability and is dedicated to creating ecological solutions for clients around the world, and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits - one of the most influential distributors in the drinks industry. They are jointly mobilising their expertise to activate a sustainability initiative dedicated to endowing cork stoppers with a new lease of life, by transforming them into innovative, eco-friendly products that benefit communities and foster a greener future.
In 2023, Amorim Cork launched ReCork in Australia, in partnership with the recycling organization Save Our Soles, an Australian footwear and clothing brand, R. M. Williams, and the Dan Murphy’s liquor store chain. This initiative aims to increase the circularity of cork stoppers by collecting used corks across various sectors. Partnering with Dan Murphy’s, Amorim Cork Australia has set up collection points in 52 stores.
Implemented since 2008, Green Cork is a project developed by Quercus, in partnership with Corticeira Amorim and several other partners, to collect cork stoppers for recycling. Its main objectives are to collect cork stoppers and finance the planting of autochthonous trees, through the Common Forest programme.
Created in 2009 by Amorim France, this project aims to strengthen relations with customers - combining environmental protection with various charity institutions. Today it is the world's largest contributor to the recycling of cork stoppers.
Since 2011, ETICO involves associations and institutions, and mobilises around one thousand volunteers and manages more than five thousand collection points throughout Italy. For each ton of cork stoppers collected, Amorim Cork Italia makes a donation to institutions, thereby financing social solidarity projects, while favouring circular economy principles, by giving recycled cork a new lease of life.
A partnership between Amorim Cork Solutions and NH Hotel Group to promote a more sustainable world. The first phase began in 2011, when 68 cork stopper collection bins were delivered to hotels in Belgium, Spain, Italy, Germany, France and the Netherlands. The second phase began in 2019, with the placement of 74 collection bins in hotels in Spain and Italy.
Launched in 2013, Amorim Cork Life, among other initiatives, contributes to job creation through the construction of handicrafts and decorative objects based on recycled cork stoppers, making a real impact not only on the environment, but also on the local community.
It’s the largest cork recycling project in the United States and Canada, created in 2008 on the initiative of the footwear company SOLE. The recycled cork stoppers, collected through a network of more than 3,000 partners, are transformed to be applied in the production of shoe soles.