From recycling to real application: cork as an ally against climate change

Coinciding with the International Day against Climate Change, the Catalan Cork Institute Foundation (ICSuro), within the framework of the state bioeconomy project FUTURECORK and with the collaboration of the Palafrugell City Council, it has carried out a practical action that exemplifies how cork recycling can be key in the fight against the climate emergency and a circular economy model applied to the territory.

This week, Six saplings of approximately 1 m² have been installed, made with recycled cork stoppersfrom the pilot collection test carried out in Palafrugell. For each tree, about 1000 corks that have become a draining and natural pavement around the trees.

This type of surface reduces soil compaction, improves water retention and reuses a 100% renewable material, maintaining complete safety for urban use and guaranteeing maximum safety, comfort and durability.

Campaign results

 As part of a pilot test of an integrated management system (SiG) implemented in Palafrugell and Cassà de la Selva, ICSuro has so far collected 0.5 tons of used cork stoppers.

The caps have been managed and classified by the ICSuro technical team, and subsequently crushed at the Tramuntana Occupational Center, an entity with which it has collaborated.

The cork industry is a paradigmatic example of circularity: most industrial by-products are reintroduced into the same production process. However, it has long been established that the only real waste is post-consumer cork stoppers, which do not have a consolidated recovery route. For this reason, ICSuro has been promoting various applications for these stoppers for years. One of them is their use in tree groves, that is, the space left between trees and pavement in urban environments.

Cork, as a natural, renewable and biodegradable material, is capable of storing carbon and acts as a direct ally in mitigating the effects of climate change. With this action, Palafrugell consolidates itself as a benchmark in innovation and circularity, reinforcing the role of cork as a material of the future within the bioeconomy.

Commitment to the future

At ICSuro we continue to work to promote initiatives that connect research, business and territory, with the aim of preserving cork forests and their environmental and economic value.
On International Day Against Climate Change, we reaffirm our commitment to sustainability and the transformation of the cork sector: because every cork counts, and every action adds up.

FUTURECORK is supported by the Fundación Biodiversidad del Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico (MITECO) within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.