Cork with a conscience
Original article by World Finance
Is cork helping to decarbonise the wine industry? Corticeira Amorim, the world leader in cork stoppers, explains how innovation and nature combine to deliver stoppers with a negative carbon footprint.
Cork has been part of winemaking history for centuries, but today it is helping to shape a more sustainable future. At the heart of this transformation is Corticeira Amorim, the world’s largest producer and exporter of cork products, recognised for its commitment to natural solutions with a positive environmental impact. Founded in Portugal in 1870, Corticeira Amorim has grown from a family business to a global leader with operations in more than 100 countries. While its product range now extends from flooring to aerospace-grade composites, it remains best known for its high-performance cork stoppers, producing over 5.3 billion a year.
Yet this is far from an old-world industry. With heavy investment in R&D, technical innovation and sustainability, Corticeira Amorim is redefining the role of the humble cork stopper. New data verified by APCER (the Portuguese Association for Certification) confirms that Corticeira Amorim is capable of producing cork stoppers with a negative carbon footprint – making them not only one of the most natural ways to seal a bottle of wine, but also among the most climate-friendly.
A tree that gives back more than it takes
To understand cork’s environmental superpower, you have to start at the source: the cork oak tree. Native to the Mediterranean and central to Portugal’s unique Montado (cork oak forest), the cork oak is the only tree whose bark can regenerate after harvesting. Far from harming the tree, regular stripping every nine years keeps it healthy and allows it to capture even more carbon.
In fact, cork oak forests not only sequester carbon, but also retain it over long periods of time, as the trees live on average for 200 years. According to an investigation cited by Corticeira Amorim, cork oak forests sequester up to 73 tonnes of CO₂ for every tonne of cork harvested. This makes cork a highly effective natural carbon sink, while also helping to preserve rich biodiversity and prevent desertification. Because the carbon is stored in the bark itself, and not just the tree, harvesting and using cork products doesn’t deplete that storage, it extends it. That is a large part of what makes cork-based products like Corticeira Amorim’s stoppers environmentally positive across their life cycle.
“The cork industry produces no cork waste in the traditional sense”
Stretching across southern Portugal and parts of Spain, the cork oak forest is a unique agroforestry system dominated by cork oaks. It is a delicate balance of economy, ecology and culture that has been sustained for centuries. But cork is only part of the cork oak forest’s story. This system supports a remarkable level of biodiversity, including endangered species like the Iberian lynx and the Spanish imperial eagle. The cork oak itself is vital in preventing desertification, storing carbon and supporting soil health. Unlike monoculture plantations, the cork oak forest offers a model of sustainable land use, where economic productivity and environmental stewardship go hand-in-hand.
Because of its unique environmental, economic, and cultural importance, there is growing support for the cork oak forest to be recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This would acknowledge not only its ecological value but also the deep-rooted human traditions that have helped preserve it over generations.
Negative carbon footprints
Corticeira Amorim’s recent carbon footprint studies, based on ISO 14067 standards (a standard that provides guidelines for quantifying and reporting the carbon footprint of a product) and verified by APCER, analysed around 60 percent of its stopper portfolio. The results were striking. From natural corks to advanced technical solutions like Spark Top II, all tested stoppers showed a negative carbon footprint, ranging from –28.7g CO₂ eq per stopper to as much as –56.4g CO₂ eq.
That means that each cork not only requires little energy to produce, but also actively removes more carbon than it emits throughout its production cycle – from bark to bottling. For winemakers, the implications are significant. More than half of the greenhouse gas emissions in the wine industry are attributed to the manufacture and shipping of glass bottles. By using cork stoppers, the overall carbon footprint of the wine packaging can be reduced. Switching to cork becomes one effective way to decarbonise operations, without compromising quality or sensory performance. “Cork stoppers continue to be a strong ally for producers of still, sparkling and fortified wines,” says António Rios de Amorim, Chairman and CEO. “In addition to their unique technical characteristics, they make a significant contribution to reducing the overall carbon footprint of wine packaging.”
Sustainability backed by science
Corticeira Amorim’s footprint assessments cover the entire cradle-to-gate journey of the product, from raw material extraction through to the factory gate. This includes all greenhouse gases, not just CO₂, but also methane, nitrous oxide and others, across each life cycle phase.
This method ensures consistency and comparability across different products and manufacturing models, regardless of regional differences in energy sources, transport or recycling infrastructure. It also allows wine-makers, regulators, and environmentally-conscious consumers to make informed decisions based on reliable, third-party verified data.
António Rios de Amorim adds: “At Corticeira Amorim we work daily to develop more sustainable solutions, in line with a continuous strategy to reduce the environmental impact of our processes, while preserving the unique ecosystem that is the cork oak forest.”
Innovation at scale
Every day, Corticeira Amorim produces around 21 million cork stoppers. With three core market segments, still wine, sparkling wine and spirits, the company’s reach spans both the traditional heartlands of Europe (France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Portugal) and major New World wine regions, such as the US and Chile. To support this vast production while ensuring quality and performance, Corticeira Amorim invests heavily in R&D, particularly in the areas of sensory neutrality and trichloroanisole (TCA) detection. Its cutting-edge screening techniques ensure that cork taint (caused by TCA compounds) is effectively eliminated, allowing producers to benefit from cork’s sustainability without sacrificing consistency. This combination of scale, science and sustainability is why so many leading global wineries now view Corticeira Amorim as an integral part of their climate strategy, not just a supplier.
A circular economy
One of Corticeira Amorim’s defining strengths is its commitment to circularity. The cork industry produces no cork waste in the traditional sense. Every off-cut or by-product is transformed into valuable raw material from stopper-grade granules to insulation, flooring and even aerospace applications.
This model ensures that every gram of cork serves a purpose, often in multiple sectors. Corticeira Amorim’s ‘zero waste’ philosophy from cork means that stoppers don’t just close bottles, they open doors to maximise the potential of the Corticeira Amorim cork solutions business across multiple industries from aerospace to automotive. It is a system built not only on innovation, but also on respect for a natural material that has been serving human needs for generations.
Recycling cork: closing the loop
In addition to repurposing manufacturing by-products, Corticeira Amorim leads and supports extensive cork recycling initiatives across Europe and North America. These programmes invite consumers to return used cork stoppers via wine retailers, restaurants and collection points, giving cork a valuable second life.
While recycled cork can’t be used to make new stoppers, it can be transformed into everything from acoustic panels and sports flooring to shoe soles, designer furniture, and car components. This reuse supports Corticeira Amorim’s circular economy principles, extending cork’s lifecycle, reducing waste and preserving its environmental benefits, including carbon retention.
Corticeira Amorim backs several high-impact recycling projects. In Portugal, ‘Green Cork’ supports native reforestation through cork collection. In France, ‘ÉcoBouchon’ combines recycling with charitable giving and now leads globally in cork collection. Italy’s ETICO programme involves thousands of volunteers and supports social causes through stopper donations. A partnership with NH Hotel Group has placed hundreds of collection bins in hotels across Europe, while a South African initiative adds job creation to the recycling effort.
In the US, the ‘Cork Collective’ continues this global commitment to sustainability. Launched in 2024, the initiative is a collaboration between Corticeira Amorim, Rockwell Group, BlueWell, and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, focused on collecting and recycling cork stoppers from leading hotels and restaurants across New York. Using electric vehicles, the stoppers are gathered from venues including Gramercy Tavern, Nobu and the Marriott hotel chain, then transported to a specialist facility in Wisconsin where they are cleaned, crushed, and repurposed into products ranging from flooring to aerospace materials.
These programmes not only reduce waste but also help inform consumers about the importance of material recovery and sustainable product choices. By extending the value chain beyond the bottle, they make cork a catalyst for environmental engagement, not just in wineries, but in homes and communities around the world.
