This news story was released today.
Plastic threatens cork forests

It looks more like some PR from the cork producers than a genuine piece of news, so I wonder, is the wine cork industry really threatened? If that is true, is putting up with a 3-5% loss due to TCA worth it to preserve cork oak forests?

My feeling is that if the groups named could come up with a guaranteed TCA free stamp, it would be more effective than appealing to sustainability concerns.

Another thing I noticed is that the wine corks are bleached. Use of chlorine bleach in wineries is linked to TCA. Does anyone here know how the corks are bleached?

So in a similar dilemma, if I don’t eat red meat all the cattle will be eliminated. With no cattle we won’t need as much open space for grazing. Since such grasslands usually make poor farmland we can build houses and encourage more population growth etc. Therefore vegans are really against the environment.

Sorry, I’m still in favor of screw caps.

To answer you’re last question - Hydrogen peroxide has been substituted for chlorine bleach at many cork manufacturers.

Thanks for the answer on the corks.

You are right about vegans and cattle, unless they advocate the re-establishment of free grazing herbivores kept in check by a healthy population of non-human carnivores. Large grazing animals are essential to the health of grasslands.

<edited: i thought this stated "cock forest threatened". my bad>