Cork and the environment:Cork's impact on
the environment is quite low due to the sustainable
harvesting practices and almost zero waste from
the manufacturing process. Producing nations regulate
how frequently cork can be harvested in order to
minimize damage to the trees. The trees survive
the debarking process although they are more susceptible
to injury until the protective bark is regenerated.
Cork bark is typically harvested every nine or
ten years. After the slabs of cork bark are harvested
they are cleaned, boiled and stripped of the rough
outer surface. Bottle stopper "corks" are then punched
from the best material in the slabs. The remaining
scraps are then ground into small granules, mixed
with a binder, molded into large blocks and baked
in specialized ovens - making use of every scrap
of cork bark.
Corks remarkable properties are derived from
its cellular structure of hollow, polyhedral (14
sided) cells with extremely strong yet flexible
cell walls that are waterproof and airtight. Joined
together in a honeycomb like fashion, cork cells
produce a very low-density, compressible insulating
material. As a floor covering, cork is durable,
provides acoustical and thermal insulation, cushions
the foot, is resistant to moisture damage and decay
and is easy to clean. In addition to all of these
features cork is harvested from trees in a sustainable
manner - making it very worthy of consideration
for use in green building.
Cork oak forests cover approximately 5.4 million
acres amongst the seven primary cork producing countries;
(30% Portugal, 21% in Algeria, 20% in Spain, 16%
in Morocco, 5% in France and 4% each in Italy and
Tunisia). Cork forests are carefully managed and
treasured in particular by Portugal, which produces
50% of the worlds cork supply.
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