Currently, there is no recycling system for wine corks in Sweden. To change this, municipal energy company Karlstads Energi AB, 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.
In addition to providing electricity, district heating, and broadband to the city 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.
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, explained Malin Pettersson, Head of Recycling at Karlstads Energi.
Wine cork “BioBoosters Hackathon”
To succeed in giving used wine corks a new life, Karlstads Energi is part of the “BioBoosters” challenge, organized 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 by bringing together bio-based businesses in rural areas to share the know-how in circular production and trigger green business opportunities.
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 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, said Malin Pettersson.
Facts
About BioBoosters
Funded under the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme, the two-year BioBoosters project aims to advance the green transition of bioeconomy business by matchmaking competence with needs. By employing a proven business-driven Hackathon process, BioBoosters can solve challenges that the bioeconomy businesses are facing in transitioning to circular economy business models.
BioBoosters Hackathon is connecting the bioeconomy innovation ecosystems of nine regions across the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). By implementing the open innovation process in inter-regional cooperation, the project can facilitate cross-sectoral knowledge transfer as well as connect SMEs, start-ups, and research groups with companies in an international context.
A total of 18 BioBoosters Hackathons together with target groups will be held over the project period to validate the innovation process model to be adopted in the key bioeconomy innovation hubs of the participating regions.
Furthermore, the model will be transferrable to any innovation hub that is looking to support their regional business networks in green or digital transition.
Two-day workshop
The competition is open to both individual participants and teams. Registration for the innovation challenge, which can open doors to new business opportunities and insights, is open until October 27, 2024.
The solution proposals from the submitted registrations deemed to have potential will be invited to a two-day workshop and hackathon in Karlstad on December 3-4, 2024.
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, said Per Myhrén, Project Manager at Paper Province.
This is the second time Paper Province is organizing a BioBoosters Hackathon to match sustainability challenges with solutions.
The previous round was held 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.
