Plastic caps, metal caps and even the stoppers on the bottles of bubbly – everything is included in Sweden's statutory system of producer responsibility, which means that whoever is behind the product also has a responsibility to ensure that it can be recycled.
However, wine corks made from natural materials are not included.
We think that is unnecessary. We think that cork should be given a second chance like other materials that we recycle.
Karlstads Energi is now the first in Sweden to introduce a municipal recycling system for wine corks, in collaboration with Systembolaget. People will be able to drop off their corks at the municipality's six recycling stations and three Systembolaget stores.
The materials are recycled in Karlstad and become new products. These could be wax blocks, yoga blocks or hairbrushes made of cork, for example, says Christoffer Henriksson.
The project will continue until May next year and then be evaluated. Christoffer Henriksson emphasizes that recycling only applies to pure natural corks.
"If it's stuck in a plastic casing, we don't want it. If the cork has a little foiling or a glossy surface, it often has a plastic material, but if it's completely made of pure natural cork, you can feel it on the surface," he says.
