Chapter 12 - Production of cork stoppers and discs

Abstract

Cork is an industrial raw material that supports an integrated chain from production to the consumer, with an important impact at economic, social, and environmental levels in the corresponding regions of production and transformation. The industrial production is organized following two streamlines: (1) the production of stoppers of natural cork and the production of discs of natural cork and (2) the production of agglomerates of cork particles, with or without the addition of binding materials. This chapter presents an overview of the industrial organization in terms of these two processing lines by separating raw materials and product outputs. The production of stoppers and cork discs is described from the yard storage to the finishing operations. The operation of cork boiling in water is also explained, highlighting its recent evolution. The evolution of cork washing and bleaching and cork quality classification are then presented. Finally, the yields and the quality profiles obtained in the production of cork stoppers and discs are presented.