In Porto, 50 collected cork stoppers give life to a tree

Porto Ambiente, LIPOR and Quercus have joined forces in a partnership called “Rolha a Rolha Semeia a Recolha” to raise awareness in restaurants, hotels and cafés to recycle cork stoppers. The result? The planting of an autochthonous tree for every 50 corks collected.

In the first phase of the project, 150 establishments have been mapped, and the goal is to reach more than a thousand adherent clients. The goal is to contribute to the reforestation of the country and to motivate, in a community approach, establishments and their customers to fight against climate change.

The cork stopper collection channel is part of Green Cork, a project created by Quercos (in partnership with Corticeira Amorim and Continente) and which, in 2013, was considered by the European Union as one of the best projects to combat climate change.

Recycling cork stoppers is very important, since they fix CO2 particles and, if they are decomposed or incinerated, release it into the atmosphere. The recycling of the stoppers thus avoids the release of the gas into the atmosphere and makes it possible to prolong the CO2 retention capacity of the cork. Not forgetting that recycling used corks also contributes to potentiate the reuse of raw material, as is the case of the footwear brand As Portuguesas.