British naturals company Lush has unveiled its carbon positive packaging, which is made out of biodegradable cork.

The company, which states the development is a ‘world first’, will use the packaging for its range of solid shampoos and other naked products, with the cork said to isolate more carbon than it emits. This is due to the fact the trees used to create cork are left standing, with their bark removed just once every ten years.

According to Nick Gumery, Creative Buyer for packaging at Lush, the use of cork may provide the solution to the world’s plastic disaster.

Miles King, a Nature Writer for Lush, stated, “Cork is a natural product, made from the inner layer under the bark of the Cork Oak tree (Quercus suber). Traditionally used to make corks (as in stoppers for wine bottles) Cork is actually a remarkable material – anti-bacterial, fire-retardant, water-resistant, flexible, strong, easy to work; and at the end of its life, it can be composted.
“Harvested from a living tree, it also has an exceptional ability to sequester carbon, helping to mitigate the effects of climate change chaos. The [Lush] team’s calculations suggest that each cork pot sequesters over one kilo of carbon dioxide gas (and this is a very conservative estimate). This compares with an aluminium pot which releases 9kg of CO2 for every kg of Aluminium created.”

The company is due to purchase half a million pots in 12 months, with the first 6,000 pots having been delivered to Lush this week. They will be used as part of an imminent range of exclusive hair care products.