Did you know that trees can have their bark removed and that it even grows back? Because this is precisely the process from which cork is obtained.

That’s because the cork oak does not have to be felled in order to obtain cork, since cork materials are made from the bark of the cork oak. The process by which the bark is separated from the tree is called decortication. This work is carried out by specialised professionals with an axe. The decortication process takes place between May and August, when the tree has its most active growing season. This is the time it is easiest to separate the bark from the trunk. A cork oak gets decorticated for the first time at the age of about 25 years. The process can then be repeated every eight to ten years, making cork renewable. During the period during which the bark is growing back on the tree, it becomes a CO2 sink by absorbing three times as much CO2 than it does when it has bark, and thus has a negative carbon footprint.

After decortication, the bark is stacked up and must be stored outdoors for at least six months to stabilise and straighten the cork. It can then be further processed into various cork materials.