Cork oak forests and the natural cork products derived from the forests are a major carbon sink and have an important role in sustainable development.

The crucial role of cork in carbon dioxide retention, preserving biodiversity and combating desertification was highlighted in a landmark report on sustainability published recently by Corticeira Amorim.

The report, Corticeira Amorim’s first annual review on sustainability, details the company's sustainable development policies and performance, as well as social responsibility and related corporate activities.

It has been released at a time when public awareness of cork’s crucial sustainability role is enhancing worldwide interest in natural cork as the most viable wine closure.

Natural cork’s positive environmental values have received extensive global media coverage recently including reports in Time, Forbes, USA Today, CBS News and BusinessWeek.

Introducing the Sustainability Report, Corticeira Amorim’s chairman and CEO António Amorim said the performances and practices outlined in the report were the direct result of a culture of sustainability that had guided the company’s business activity since the 19th century.

"Corticeira Amorim, in addition to benefiting from a gift of nature, has also structured its business activities around the adoption and strengthening of sustainable development practices," he said.

The company's approach is based upon several aspects, including transforming a natural raw material extracted cyclically from trees without harming them, promoting the economic and social sustainability of areas at risk of desertification, while making high value-added products that retain the unique and intrinsic characteristics of natural cork. This is achieved through an integrated manufacturing process that is practically waste-free.

Mr Amorim said the company had produced its first Sustainability Report as it was aware of its responsibility as the leader in the industrial cork business, the segment that guarantees the economic viability of the world’s cork forests.

The major highlights in the report include:

• Cork oak forests and the resulting manufactured natural cork products have a proven, positive role in sustainable development.
• The role of cork in CO2-retention, preserving biodiversity and combating desertification, is crucial in minimising the world’s ecological footprint.
• CO2-retention capabilities of Portugal’s cork forests are estimated to be as high as five per cent of the country’s annual emissions, or 4.8 million tons per year.
• Amorim’s annual production of natural wine stoppers alone retains over 25 thousand tons of CO2 creating a unique balance between the creation of wealth and the protection of the environment.
• Over 45 per cent of Amorim’s energy needs are supplied by renewable sources, including natural cork itself.

Corticeira Amorim will continue to plan, control and report on its performance in matters relating to the promotion of sustainable development. The company will conduct an annual review and each time it will aim to demonstrate significant ecological footprint reductions.

The Sustainability Report project was initiated in 2006 and largely covers the 2006 calendar year. It has been prepared according to G3 Global Reporting Guidelines (GRI) and independently assured by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

A full copy of the Sustainability Report is available from the Corticeira Amorim website at www.corticeiraamorim.com/en