Corks that have been collected by the Seongdong District Office are seen in this photo provided by the office.
SEOUL, May 11 (Korea Bizwire) — Seoul’s Seongdong District announced on Wednesday the establishment of a collaborative network between the public and private sectors, marking the country’s first cork recycling project in its pursuit of zero carbon emissions.
The district entered into an agreement with S-Build, a sports facility construction company specializing in cork recycling technology, as well as local wine merchants.
Corks are widely utilized as wine bottle closures and are environmentally friendly, being derived from cork trees.
During both production and degradation processes, corks emit lower levels of carbon dioxide compared to synthetic materials. Moreover, they possess the ability to absorb and store carbon.
With the surge in wine consumption during the pandemic, primarily consumed at home, a large portion of corks ended up being discarded.
In response, the district office decided to launch a cork recycling initiative alongside its existing coffee ground recycling project, initiated in 2020.
The objective is to gather corks from local wine merchants and repurpose them for constructing pedestrian walkways near the district office, thereby establishing a novel resource circulation model.
Currently, 44 businesses have expressed their intention to participate in the project.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
