Cork is the most sustainable form of closure, study finds
December 4, 2008
Sally Easton
A year-long life cycle analysis (LCA) of the environmental impact of cork, plastic and aluminium screwcap stoppers has found what is already widely accepted: that cork is the most environmentally-friendly stopper.
The was study undertaken by analysts PricewaterhouseCoopers, commissioned by Amorim, the world's largest cork manufacturer.
The report found plastic stoppers, including the plastic capsule that goes over the top of the bottle, are nine times more damaging to the environment - and aluminium screwcaps are twenty-two times - than cork stoppers, including corks with a plastic capsule.
The LCA included an evaluation of a plastic capsule designed for both cork and plastic stoppers to compare 'like with like' against screwcaps, which do not need a plastic capsule.
The first independent survey comparing all three main types of wine bottle stopper, the study was conducted in accordance with
ISO (International Standards Organisation) protocols which require peer
review, and involved representatives from manufacturers of the other types of closures as well as a life cycle analysis expert.
It calculated various environmental impacts: non-renewable energy consumption, water consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, atmospheric acidification, formation of photochemical oxidants which cause ozone layer depletion, the production of solid waste, and the eutrophication (loss of animal life) of surface water.
Of the seven environmental impacts studied, cork performed best on six of them. But performance was only second-best on water consumption.
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Not a surprise to see confirmation of cork as the most sustainable closure, or to see that Amorim have funded the research. What a shame the industry would have to compromise the quality of wine so much in order to keep using it.
Belinda Jackson, Wine Consultant, New Zealand
OK, fine, let's make Ferraris and jets out of cork. Would be about as effective.
John Kilbourne
Being in the industry myself I can attest to the use of both closures and without a doubt the aluminium screwcap closure is far superior.
If only one could ask the poor cork tree how it feels about being harvested that way while the aluminium screwcap is 100% recyclable.
It is time for the media to realize that the cork producer's association uses their vast resources to send you this kinda dribble on a regular basis – imagine what it would've been like if there was a 'vinyl producer's association' when Compact Discs were being launched extolling the virtues of why one should stick to vinyl?
Move on people, embrace technology, screw cap really works and the trees really enjoy being left alone!
Dave Hutton, Sales and Marketing, Rustenberg, South Africa
I would suggest that the carbon footprint of producing the 1-3% of TCH effected wine (or randomly oxidized) that needs to be poured down the sink, or the petrol required to take it back to the retailer for a replacement would offset the or most likely outweigh any savings.
I would also suggest that the energy relativity of the closure vs. the glass requirements of the bottle would be nigh on insignificant. Therefore if this was an area we really needed as a priority over other options, we would consider real carbon reduction alternatives such as tetra-pack or similar (French Rabbit www.frenchrabbit.com ).
The writing is on the wall for cork. Perhaps Amorim should consider diversifying into new technology rather than expending energy on questionable spin.
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Not a surprise to see confirmation of cork as the most sustainable closure, or to see that Amorim have funded the research. What a shame the industry would have to compromise the quality of wine so much in order to keep using it.
