Where do corks end up when we throw them away?

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Rilegno introduces separate cork waste collection. 11,500 corks can be transformed into a 10 sq m insulating panel.

Even opening a bottle could be a way to celebrate circular economy: not many people know that Rilegno, the Italian consortium for wood waste collection, treatment and recycling, collects and recycles bottle corks to give them a new life in the form of other products. For example, 11,500 recycled bottle corks can be used to realize 10 square meters of insulating panels.

Since 2009 Rilegno has been managing the collection of bottle corks in Turin, with a campaign called Tappoachi?. At the end of last September, the consortium also participated in the fair Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, in cooperation with Enoteca della Banca del Vino, by installing a big container for the collection of wine bottle corks. The structure was designed by the Turin collective Izmade and joins cork recycling with creative wood recycling: the container is made with numerous recycled wood items assembled in a large cylinder, with a transparent strip that allows to check the cork collection level. At the end of the fair, the corks were sent for recycling and were transformed in insulating panels, art objects, shoe parts, construction materials and musical instruments.

Rilegno is the Italian National consortium for the collection, treatment and recycling of wood packaging. It was established by Legislative Decree 22/97 and depends on the Unified Environmental Bill 152/2006 with subsequent amendments. Rilegno’s task is to organize and manage the recycling and treatment of wood packaging waste (pallets, fruit and vegetable crates, boxes, cages, cable reels, etc.) and other kinds of urban wood waste (doors, wooden frames, furniture, etc.). Recycling wood means saving energy, improving air quality and at the same time avoiding wastage. Wood has a thousand applications in the industrial manufacturing sector: after the end of its first life it can live a thousand more, becoming a resource for the circular economy.

For more information, visit the website of Rilegno