Cork does indeed grow on trees! It is a natural product that we've harvested without harm to the tree. Mankind has often taken what nature provides either for granted or assumed it can do better. Synthetic substitutes have not been able to reproduce cork with all it's complexities.
Any that come close in a particular aspect are becoming increasingly expensive and in many cases will not retain it's performance over the years as cork will. Furthermore, they are not as eco-friendly as cork, and disposal of these other materials causes great planetary loss.

The Cork Oak (Quercus Suber) is a forest tree which allows itself to be stripped of the outer casing of it's bark. This consists of a cork fibre. Cork is harvested annually during the hottest months of the year when the growth activity of the tree is at it's most intense, i.e. June, July and August.

It is only after about 25 years that it becomes practical to take the stripping of the bark, the trunk must have a minimum diameter of 80 centimeters. This is called "Virgin Cork". Thereafter, strippings are restricted to a legal minimum of 9 years and is termed "Production Cork". Average growth in this period is around 26 millimeters.

Characteristics: Light, elastic, impermeable to liquid and gases, a good insulator to heat, sound, vibrations and electricity, imputrescible, resistant to attack from widely varying destructive agents.

The extraordinary efficiency of the bark is attained with the minimum expenditure of solid materials as a result of the utilisation of the maximum volume of air. It is made up of about 40 million cells per cubic centimeter.

It is not only it's fibrous structure which gives it such valuable properties, many of the properties are due to the nature of the cell membranes, for the separating walls of each pair consists of five sheets: two of them made of a cellulose substance which covers the cellular cavities filled with air so as to form a sort of cushion, two thicker ones which are completely encased with suberous matter and impermeable. The central one is lignified and guarantees the necessary rigidity for the structure as a whole.

Cork is the pollution free solution to the increasingly environmentally sensitive areas of sound and vibration insulation. It is used in the construction of dams, for anti-vibration mountings for machinery and for building construction especially in earthquake zones, and expansion jointing for tunnels and wood flooring. Further examples of it's versatility are; in transport containers for sensitive materials, in safety helmets, and in life jackets. We also use cork to hit 'with' or 'against', and of course as a fishing float.

When mixed with different polymers, Cork Rubber gives high resistance to wear, is non-slip sound absorbent and resistant to oil, grease and salt. Therefore it is an obvious choice for gaskets, seals and flooring in industry, and in transport vehicles.