Time to Give Wine Corks a New Life and Grow Your Business

Malin Pettersson, Karlstads Energi, invites solution providers

Currently, there is no recycling system for wine corks in Sweden. To change this, the energy company Karlstads Energi, and the bioeconomy cluster Paper Province are calling on innovators, companies, researchers, and startups to find a sustainable and scalable solution for recycling natural cork.

“Our goal is to reduce waste. We hope to find a method to recycle natural cork instead of it going directly to energy recovery through incineration. Today, there is no system for recycling natural corks; they are used only once before being discarded,” says Malin Pettersson, Head of Recycling at Karlstads Energi.

In addition to providing electricity, district heating, and broadband to the residents of Karlstad, Karlstads Energi is also responsible for the city’s recycling and waste management services, with the aim of recycling as much as possible.

Despite the fact that wine is a popular beverage and the residents of Karlstad are continuously improving their waste recycling efforts, there is still no recycling system specifically for wine corks.

Join the Hackathon

To succeed in giving used wine corks a new life, Karlstads Energi is part of the “BioBoosters” challenge, organised by Paper Province. BioBoosters is an international concept developed by nine actors from seven European countries to promote innovation, create new business opportunities, and accelerate sustainable development.

The collaboration means that Karlstads Energi will be responsible for collecting the corks, while the winning participants will provide the idea and solution. The sought-after solution should be scalable, implementable on an industrial level, and spread nationally, contributing to waste reduction. The competition is open to both individual participants and teams.

“The winner will gain free access to a biobased raw material that has not previously been recycled, contributing to both profitability and a circular economy. Additionally, this is a great opportunity to test different collection structures and influence behaviours together with us, for example by spreading information at recycling centres and other facilities,” says Malin Pettersson.

Two-Day Workshop

Until 27 October, it is possible to register for the innovation challenge, which can open doors to new business opportunities and insights. The solution proposals deemed to have potential will be invited to a two-day workshop and hackathon in Karlstad on 3 - 4 December. The solution presented in the application does not need to be complete. It will be developed with support from Karlstads Energi and several business mentors with various skills and experiences.

“During the hackathon days, participants will receive valuable feedback and the opportunity to further refine their ideas. The solutions will then be presented to a jury consisting of representatives from Karlstads Energi, Paper Province, and other leading actors in sustainable development,” says Per Myhrén, Project Manager at Paper Province.

This is the second time Paper Province is organising a BioBoosters hackathon to match sustainability challenges with solutions. The previous round was in 2023, when the paper and packaging materials company Billerud was matched with the wood products company Moelven to develop a new fibre-based packaging solution for one of Moelven’s products.

For more information, please contact:

Per Myhrén
Project Manager
Phone: +46 (0)70 214 08 36
Email: per.myhren@paperprovince.com

Malin Pettersson
Head of Recycling at Karlstads Energi
Phone: +46 (0)540 41 07
Email: malin.pettersson@karlstad.se

Photos can b downloaded here: Link >