Do Screw Caps & Other Plastic Closures Cause Cancer & Hurt The Environment? w/ Patrick Spencer director of CorkReHarvest.org

Last week I wrote an article on this highly controversial subject, The Great Cork Debate which got the attention of a few organizations involved in supporting sustainable viticulture and recycling used corks. One email led to another and I ended up in a dialogue with Patrick Spencer from CorkReharvest.org and invited him to do an interview.

I just finished my interview with Patrick Spencer, director of CorkReHarvest.org and boy was it informative. To summarize, I learned that screw caps are not easily recyclable in the US. While plastic is recyclable we have a island of plastic in the middle of the ocean that is larger than Texas. So, is plastic really recyclable? Additionally, Aluminum, from which screw caps are made, remains one of the most environmentally devastating and energy intensive mining practices that impacts not only the environment but our health. Consider this,  if approximately 96 percent of all wines in the US are consumed right away and the majority of the wines that are selling are the less expensive, ready to drink wines that are turning to plastic and screw cap closures, that means there are a lot of plastic and screw cap closures that are mucking up the environment.

Cork taint is down to less than 1% and cork harvesting is a very natural process which doesn’t harm the trees nor does it cut down trees. The cork tree is one of the only trees that you can strip and it won’t die because the bark is dead.

More over, winery’s, wine makers are not using screw caps or plastic closures because it make a better wine but because it is cheaper than natural cork. You would think that at the very least the cost of the wine would decrease but the benefit all goes to the winery. How can a winery say they are practicing sustainable viticulture when they stop at the closure? I understand we are all trying to cut back expenses, but what I would like to see is a solution in which winery’s can save money without potentially harming us or the environment.

Just because the winery switches to ulterior closures like screw caps or plastic stoppers, doesn’t mean that the wine they sell you will cost less, in fact, the price stays the same. The benefit is in the winery’s pocket. So, then does it all comes down to profit? Screw caps and plastic closures aren’t environmentally friendly, they pose danger to upset of one of the largest bio diverse systems in the world and more importantly a loss of livelihood for hundreds of thousands of families. Worst still is that screw caps leech endocrine disruptors in wine which are directly linked to cancer. Wine is a solvent and wine and plastic should never meet. This new research obviously puts a cork in my wine drinking. I mean let’s face it, we all drink wine because it enhances our epicurean experience, relaxes us and it’s fun, the health benefits just happen to be a bonus! But one of the many reasons I drink wine, and why many of my wino friends drink wine, is because of the health benefits. “One to three glasses a day (of red wine), keeps the doctor a way.” To think that the fruit I’ve come to love so much now causes the very thing that I thought I was protecting myself against…just is, well, devastating.

The research was conducted by a team based in 3 countries; the Research Institute for Chromatography and the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, University of Gent in Belgium; the Department of Chemistry, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa; and the Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands.

‘My concern is that this evidence came from research in 2000, yet when the Screwcap Initiative was launched in New Zealand in 2002 none of those involved had bothered to check the health risk of these closures,’ says Keith Stewart. ‘Subsequently representative bodies such as New Zealand Winegrowers have been prepared to endorse the specious claims of the Screwcap Initiative’s closure promotion without concern for the best interests of public safety or those of the whole New Zealand wine industry, specifically those who reject the screwcap argument.’

‘This is not an argument about which closure produces the best wine,’ Stewart adds. ‘It is about public health, and the overwhelming advice from leaders in cancer research is to treat endocrine disruptors with extreme caution. Putting PVdC in direct contact with a solvent solution (wine) that through the action of alcohol takes EDs to numerous sites of cell in the human body is negligence. It is time for the Screwcap Initiative to admit their mistake and secure safer seals for the closures they are promoting.’ Taken from Truewines

What can you do?
-Ask your local restaurants, wine shops and suppliers to support wineries who practice sustainable viticulture all the way to the closure.

-Recycle your corks at your nearest Whole Foods Market or Cork Depository

-Donate to CorkReharvest.org

-Spread the Word!

Listen to this very informative interview to get the facts!