Cork, the outer bark of the cork oak tree, is an extraordinary material that can be applied in a wide array of different situations in our daily lives. From its gentle touch to its thermal and acoustic insulation properties, this 100% natural, renewable, and recyclable raw material is one of the world’s most versatile materials, whether from an environmental, social, or economic perspective.

Cork Polymer Compounds (CPC) are produced by Amorim Cork Solutions (ACS) through an extrusion process in which cork and thermoplastics are mixed to deliver the best of both worlds. The introduction of cork to produce CPC results in a reduction of up to 60% in the volume of plastic consumption.

“In the final compound, cork, as a natural filler, is replacing a significant proportion of the plastic, due to cork’s low density, delivering a more sustainable solution compared to 100% plastic-based materials, while keeping the desired properties of the final product”, says Lisete Moutinho, CPC innovation specialist at ACS. CPC also allow cork to be more shapable, possible to be processed using different technologies - such as injection moulding, extrusion, and blow moulding - creating components that are fully adapted to the customer's technical requirements. “Here is where nature and engineering match to build sustainable and performative materials”, she adds. “Moreover, the use of bio-based thermoplastics to produce CPC offers clear advantages to achieve a 100% bio-based composite.”

CPC are already being used in areas such as sports, footwear, and automotive industry. For these applications, the CPC’s unique properties are valued - such as thermal insulation capacity, impact absorption, grip, anti-slip, lightweight or visual appearance. And the icing on the cake are the sustainability credentials and the reduced carbon footprint that are increasingly attractive to a broad range of industries in a large field of applications. Cork is naturally a negative carbon footprint raw material, contributing to reduce the carbon footprint of the final compound.

“Our technical and industrial capacity, and our expertise in cork and CPC, allow us to develop customized CPC solutions driven to respond to our customers’ needs. Visual aesthetics, hardness, fluidity, impact and fire resistance and flexibility are just some examples of what we can adjust to meet our customers’ requirements”, Lisete concludes. “CPC came to be a game changer for plastics and composites’ industries, bringing sustainability to the end user.”