New Uses For Wine Corks

It’s commonplace to recycle glass, aluminum cans and certain plastics. But that still leaves a lot of other materials that end up in the trash. Thankfully, there are companies like Trenton, NJ-based Terracycle Inc. that find a new life for materials that would otherwise end up in landfills. It has partnered with Zebulon, N.C.-based Nomacorc, a manufacturer of plastic wine corks, to create products out of the company’s used corks. Nomacorc, in turn, has signed on Spec's Wines, Spirits and Finer Foods, a leading independent liquor retailer in South Texas, to be the first retail participant in the TerraCycle program to collect post-consumer-use wine corks that will be used to make wine cork boards. The 18x18-inch cork boards will be sold by OfficeMax stores nationwide, as well as Spec's stores. They are also available on Terracycle’s Web site for $19.99.

TerraCycle also has 1,000 "brigades" across the United States that collect post-use wine corks. The brigades are made up of nonprofit organizations including churches and charities. In return for collecting and shipping closures to TerraCycle for processing, the organizations receive money to support their activities and programs.
As TerraCycle's wine closure manufacturer partner, Nomacorc is leading the effort to find additional retail and winery sponsors for the cork recycling program. To date, Nomacorc has donated more than 2 million wine closures for turning into cork boards.
If you don’t live near a Spec’s Wines, Spirits and Finer Foods, you still can be part of the wine cork recycling effort by mailing your corks to:

TerraCycle Cork Brigade
121 New York Ave.
Trenton, NJ 08638

Up to 10 corks use two stamps per envelope; up to 30 corks use four stamps.
So before you toss that wine cork in the trash, consider spending up to $1.68 in postage to send them to Terracycle, which will give them another life.