Urban Cork Harvesting Pilot for Circular Material Recovery and Cross-Border Value Chains

CorkCycle is a circular material infrastructure initiative focused on the recovery, traceability and reintegration of post-consumer natural cork into industrial value chains.

Through the concept of urban cork harvesting, we operate a real-world system across Greece, collecting natural cork from hospitality and wine-sector partners and channeling it into established recycling flows in Portugal.

The system functions as a live pilot for circular material recovery, demonstrating:

-> Post-consumer bio-based material collection at scale

-> Cross-border logistics and value chain integration

-> Traceability and ESG data generation for participating businesses

Cork, as a forest-based non-wood material, is typically not captured within structured recovery systems at the post-consumer stage. CorkCycle addresses this gap by transforming an overlooked material into a traceable circular resource.

We are seeking collaboration within EU-funded projects, contributing as:

- Pilot implementation partner

- Material recovery and logistics system provider

- Case study for circular material flows linked to forest-based value chains

We are open to partnerships with research organisations, industry players, public authorities and innovation actors to co-develop and scale circular material systems across regions.