What are the Advantages of Plastic Wine Corks?
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Currently, plastic wine corks are being used to cork wine with greater regularity. Those who use plastic wine corks point to several advantages that plastic has over cork harvested from cork trees. The most frequent reasons given are that plastic is not vulnerable to cork taint, and thus better protects wine. As well, some manufacturers cite a shortage of available cork for use.
The first reason to use plastic wine corks is not disputed. Plastic corks are not subject to cork taint. They are also easier to get out of a wine bottle since they do not disintegrate. However, most wine experts feel that wine with plastic wine corks does not age as well as that with natural corks. Plastic allows for less air exchange and thus wine does not get the benefit of maturation when plastic wine corks are used.
Most wine experts feel that wine with plastic wine corks is fine as long as one plans to consume the wine quickly. However, they still feel regular cork should be used for wines one plans to store. Unfortunately, stored wines are much more subject to cork taint, as supporters of plastic wine corks quickly point out. Since the taint may not be visible, one may store wines that are no good.
To use plastic wine corks to address cork tree shortage is another debatable point. Currently, cork trees in the forests of Portugal would provide enough cork for 100 years of wine manufacturing. A cork tree is not killed when cork is harvested, making it an environmentally friendly process.
Plastic wine corks are recyclable. However, many fear that greater reliance on plastic might make cork trees yet another victim of society’s advancements. Cork trees may lose their purpose and thus their lives if all wine manufacturers switch to plastic wine corks. On the other hand, over-dependence on harvested corks could create an ultimate deficit in cork supply if more trees are not planted.
It would seem the happy medium might be to use plastic wine corks for wines meant to be purchased and consumed immediately. Manufacturers of wine then might choose cork from cork trees for wines meant to be stored a few years before drinking. This does not entirely eliminate worries about cork taint. Yet cork taint tends to occur in a very small percentage of stored wines, and is thus likely to only pose the occasional problem.
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Discuss this Article8
how to make plastic corks? - zosko
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I bought a bottle of wine closed with a plastic cork, there was a small medallion-type of logo printed on the cork, i think it said NK. I emailed the winery to ask details about the use of plastic cork and they had so much information available, such as certifications and stuff, to demonstrate the safety of plastic corks. Apparently the major plastic cork companies invest a lot of money in research and development and plastic corks are absolutely safe. But then the cheaper plastic corks coming from small producers can be really unsafe. I found out that screw caps are much worse in terms of carbon emission and recycling. I think it is up to us consumers to want to find the truth. - anon23008
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Plastic wine corks are unacceptable.........I can't tell you how many corkscrews I've trashed (up to the $50 Rabbit) because these tough old bastards refuse to be uncorked...........creating waste in a landfill near me...and endless frustration to me. Dare we return to bad, twist off wine bottles? Or beer or other liquor? I think so....market share be damned! - anon22819
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NPA likely stands for Newpak Austrailia, a major distributor of natural and alternative closures for wine, including nomacorc products which are recyclable with other low denisty polyethylene (LDPE) packaging. - anon12426
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As razzberry points out there are established recycling system identification marks - the numbered triangle - but they do not appear on many of the plastic items I use and then have to dispose of. I live in the UK and my Local Authority specifically request I put my ( plastic ) milk, liquid detergent, bleach, shower gel, shampoo "bottles" in my recycle bin. I can't remember seeing the triangle ID on any of these. I do see the triangle on food product trays. My conclusion is that the triangle system is not widely used at all and we need to find an additional way to sort our plastics for recycling.
I have been looking for a table that shows which type of plastic is used for which purpose and if it can be recycled. As plastics tend to have their proper names shortened could we not have a list of agreed abbreviations such as the well known PVC which can be printed or embossed during manufacture. I have a plastic cork from an Australian wine which is printed with three initials - NPA - which I Googled and ended up here. Does anyone know of such a Table and how I can get it? - Digiman508
Editor's reply: we have a lot of information about the different types of recyclable plastic in our article, Which Types of Plastics Can Be Recycled?
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While it may be true that plastic wine corks are technically recyclable, they really are not recyclable. There is no program for recycling them. All of the recycle programs rely on the "numbered triangle." Wine "plastics" do not have this feature. So it's just more crap that will be dumped in a landfill somewhere (but not in my back yard). And I have seen no studies that show that the use of plastic corks is risk free. What happens to the plastcizers that are used in their manufacture. I, for one, favor a listing somewhere that identifies all the wineries that use the stuff so that I can avoid buying wines with plastic "corks." Screw tops are easy to identify, but the seal on a wine bottle hides the corking method. How does one return a plastic "corked" bottle of wine?? - razzberry
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Tricia Ellis-Christensen
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