How sustainable is cork?
Cork is taken from one of the most sustainable natural resources with cork forests being some of the most environmentally positive places on earth, absorbing more than 20 million tonnes of CO2 annually. They also have the third highest biodiversity, proving a natural habitat to 13,000 species, including the endangered Iberian Eagle and Iberian Lynx.
The cork oak tree lives for about 300 years and can be harvested every 9 years without the need to fell any trees. Instead, the bark is stripped away by hand, a tradition that started over 1000 years ago. Not only does this offer greater protection to the tree, but it only reduces the need to use energy absorbing power tools and machinery. Following each harvest, the bark regenerates - this benefits the trees as it absorbs a greater amount of CO2 during this process.
All of the harvested material is used, with the most widely known use as wine stoppers. The excess waste from the raw material is ground down used to make cork particles, the key component in SprayCork. All remaining dust and waste is used in Biomass which provides 60% of the energy used to run the plants.
This makes cork a zero-waste industry.