Amorim’s cork components reduce the carbon footprint of flooring solutions

Amorim's NRT®62 cork components, with and without a vapor barrier, are products supplied by Amorim Cork Composites - Corticeira Amorim's Composite Cork business unit - that have been especially developed for the flooring industry. Both make a positive contribution to lowering the carbon footprint of flooring manufacturers’ production processes. This is because Amorim's NRT®62 cork-based components have a negative carbon balance. They also prevent the transmission of vibrations to the slab, thereby reducing impact noise.

According to a life-cycle assessment conducted by the consultancy firm, EY, the carbon balance of the component for Amorim's NRT®62 flooring solutions without a vapour barrier is -11.8kg CO₂ eq/m2, whereas the carbon balance of the component for Amorim's NRT®62 flooring solutions with a vapour barrier is -10.5kg CO₂ eq/m2. Since the associated carbon sequestration of the cork oak forest exceeds the CO₂ emissions resulting from production, these solutions are an excellent option for flooring manufacturers who aim to strike a balance between performance and environmental sustainability.

As a 100% natural, recyclable and renewable raw material, cork helps reduce the possible environmental impacts of flooring solutions that use Amorim's NRT®62 components. These differences are especially visible when we compare these products supplied by Amorim Cork Composites with other components that use raw materials solely from a synthetic source, such as polyurethane and/or polyethylene foams.

«Cork’s added value extends far beyond its intrinsic characteristics, making it one of the most sustainable materials known to mankind. », says Corticeira Amorim’s CEO, António Rios Amorim. «Cork also fosters a large-scale reduction of the carbon balance of all products that incorporate it in their composition. It embodies Vieira da Natividade’s well-known maxim about the cork oak tree: no other tree gives so much while demanding so little.»

The environmental footprint study of Amorim's NRT®62 flooring components was conducted by EY using a Life Cycle perspective, which considered the carbon sequestration of the cork oak forest, based on the cradle-to-gate approach. This approach contemplated the environmental impacts of all activities - from the extraction of the raw material, through production of all components up until the factory gate. The methodology of EY's studies was based on the ISO 14040/44 standards, complemented by the guidelines of the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD). Production data was provided by Amorim Cork Composites, while data on the general production processes associated with the production of raw materials, energy, transport and waste management was obtained from the ecoinvent 3.5 database.