Maybe you have no clue, but the famous brand Mazda started her journey more than 100 years ago as a manufacturer of cork products. The most curious thing is that the company’s connection to this material lasts to the present days. The group readapted himself and recently betted in the utilization of this material during the development of its first fully battery-electric vehicle: the MX-30.

This return to origins is happening because, in Mazda’s perspective, “cork has a whole range of surprising characteristics that make it an excellent choice for automotive applications”. Furthermore, “as far as natural materials go, cork is certainly one of the most versatile and environmentally friendly options available”.

A raw material that helps to control the CO2 levels

The cork is removed from the bark of cork oak trees without causing any damage to the plants themselves. This is because, when their external bark is removed, the cork oak trees produce a protective layer without any negative effects.

The environmental benefits of this raw material become undeniable when one realizes that the forests from which the cork is obtained have an enormous capacity to control carbon dioxide levels. To get an idea, one hectare of cork retains, per year, 14.7 tons of harmful gas.

Despite being an often-underrated resource “cork is one of the few materials to boast a negative carbon footprint”. In fact, “significantly more CO2 is captured than is emitted during the production of cork”.