As part of the project FUTURECORK, coordinated by the Catalan Cork Institute Foundation (ICSuro), has been developed Comprehensive management plan for by-products of the cork sector, a strategic tool that allows for a global, structured and quantitative view of the material flows of the Spanish cork sector.

The main results of this plan were recently presented in poster format at  CONAMA Viladecans LocalCONAMA Viladecans Local and have been published in the magazine Catalonia Forestry No. 165Coming soon, thefull report will be available on the FUTURECORK project website.

A key tool to face the challenges of the cork sector

The Spanish cork sector faces several structural challenges, such as the need to better align supply and demand, increase the forest area managed and move towards greater diversification of products and markets. In this context, the Comprehensive By-Products Management Plan has been conceived as a decision-making support tool, aimed at improving the competitiveness, sustainability and circularity of the industry.

The plan allows you to identify, understand and quantify the input and output flows of matter of the cork sector, and focus on the valorization of by-products as a key element within the circular bioeconomy strategy.

Methodology based on representative data from the sector

To prepare the plan, extensive data collection has been carried out. All active companies in the sector have been identified through the Iberian Balance Sheet Analysis System (SABI) and the collaboration of the business associations ASECOR and AECORK.

A specific information collection tool has been designed, combining Excel spreadsheets and digital forms, with which data has been obtained from 10 autonomous communities, representing approximately 80% of the sector's annual turnover. The material flow data corresponds to the period 2021–2024, while the rest of the information is from the period 2024–2025.

Extraction of raw materials and industrial structure of the sector

The data analyzed show that in recent years around 56,400 tons of cork have been extracted annually from the state's forests. Of this volume, 90 % corresponds to corkable cork, mainly intended for the manufacture of corks, while the rest is pilgrim cork or other by-products, which are destined for agglomeration, exported to Portugal or, in some cases, are not managed.

Currently, the Spanish cork sector is made up of 88 companies with a total turnover of more than 400 million euros per year, of which 93% are SMEs. It is estimated that the sector directly employs 920 people, of which 70% are male, thus demonstrating gender segregation within the sector. It is estimated that for every direct job created, 2.36 indirect jobs are created.

In addition, the sector presents a clear specialization: 72 % of the companies are linked to the cork industry (39 % export and preparation, 32 % cork manufacturing and 1 % disc manufacturing), which demonstrates the need to diversify industrial activity.

Untapped material flows: an opportunity for circularity

One of the most relevant results of the plan is the identification of 10 material flows without a clear recircularization path, totaling approximately 64,500 tons of waste per year. The majority of these flows correspond to cork dust and post-consumer cork stoppers, by-products with a high potential for valorization.

Within the framework of the FUTURECORK project, these flows have been analyzed as opportunities for the development of new applications, such as playground flooring made from recycled corks or composite materials for 3D printing, thus contributing to closing material cycles within the sector.

Towards a more diversified and resilient sector

The Comprehensive Management Plan for Cork Sector By-Products constitutes a solid technical basis for moving towards a more diversified, circular and resilient model, aligned with the objectives of the FUTURECORK project and with European bioeconomy strategies.

With the upcoming publication of the full report, ICSURO makes available to the sector, administrations and the scientific community a key tool to continue promoting innovation and sustainability of cork as a strategic forest resource.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to all the partners of the FUTURECORK project (Consorci Forestal de Catalunya, Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas de Extremadura, Confederation of Forestry Organizations of Spain, Institute of Forest Sciences, Instituto Catalan del Corcho,
INNANOMAT) for its active involvement in the collection of data and in the development of the Comprehensive Management Plan for the by-products of the cork sector. Its collaboration has been key to guaranteeing the representativeness and quality of the information obtained.

Likewise, we would like to especially recognize the work of AECORK and ASECOR for the dissemination of the survey among their associated companies, which has allowed for a high level of participation from the sector and significant territorial coverage.

This work has been carried out within the framework of the FUTURECORK project – Transformative project for the promotion of the bioeconomy in the cork sector, funded by the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), with funds from the European Union – NextGenerationEU.