Lush Cork Pots

A selection of Lush Cork Pots / Source: Lush

AfricaAsiaBeautyCorkEuropeNorth AmericaOceaniaPackagingSouth America

5 MINUTE READ

Kaltrina Bylykbashi

WHAT WE SAY:

Lush’s cork beauty container is not only a replacement for the plastic tubs and bottles we have become accustomed to, but it also promises to have a net positive impact on the planet.

Derived from bark grown on the cork oak trees of Portugal, the traditional harvesting methods take only the outer layer of bark and leave the tree intact to sequester new carbon in its new growth. In creating its cork pots, Lush is supporting a time-honoured, regenerative practice, while cutting out plastic – a double whammy for Nature.

KEY FACTS:

Lush’s round, two-piece Cork Pot is designed to hold solid shampoo bars.
It is the company’s first carbon-positive packaging product, sequestering 1.2 kilograms of carbon dioxide - approximately 33 times its 35 gram weight - according to an assessment by the Carbon Trust.
The pot is manufactured using 100% bark from Cork oak trees in the Alentejo region of Portugal and was originally created as part of a project to support the wider regeneration of cork oak forests in southern Portugal. 34% of the world’s area of cork oak forest is located in the country.
Cork naturally wicks away moisture and its porous structure allows water to drain easily, which helps shampoo bars stored within it last for longer. It is also fire resistant, lightweight and antimicrobial.
A mono-material product with no coatings, the pot is fully compostable and biodegradable. It is also recyclable depending on access to facilities.
Pots retail for GBP 7.50 (USD 9) and the brand pays a premium price to suppliers to cover the cost of ecological restoration and regeneration in the area it sources from.

Cork bark / Source: APCOR

Cork Pots and shampoo bars / Source: Lush

DIVE DEEPER:

The UK alone throws away 520 million shampoo bottles each year and most of these bottles will only have a 30% recycling rate.
Lush’s Cork Pot is a supporting product for the company’s ‘Naked,’ unpackaged products, which constitute a whopping 66% of its core range. The lightweight nature of the pot makes the solid, unpackaged shampoo bars portable without resorting to plastic tubs or miniatures.
Lush was driven to make its Cork Pot in 2017 as proof of concept that a piece of packaging can be regenerative, biodegradable and profitable. The brand’s initial annual order of 35,000 units rose to 500,000 by 2020.
Due to the wine industry - which accounts for more than 70% of Portugal’s cork export - opting for metallic or plastic screw cap options over cork bottle stoppers, the Portuguese cork oak industry had been in decline.
Additionally, cultivation changes by farmers and increased planting of eucalyptus trees in the absence of cork-generated income served to damage the industry in an area where desertification is already a concern. Although rapidly renewable, eucalyptus can act like tinder in dry territories prone to excess heat.
To tackle the issue, Lush teamed up with environmental education group Eco Interventions to help support the farmers to build more sustainable forests.
Cork oak trees are important for preventing soil erosion and desertification, and encouraging plant diversity and animal shelter. The industry also creates sustainable jobs for local communities.
A regenerative material, cork can be harvested from a tree every nine years, providing around 16 harvests over a lifespan of 150-200 years. Once a cork oak tree is stripped of its bark, it absorbs three to five times more CO2 than usual as it attempts to aid the regeneration process, according to Lush.
Initiatives such as Lush’s have driven a resurgence in cork production over the last few years. Portuguese cork exports set a record in 2021, reaching USD 1.2 billion in value. 12% of the growth was attributed to the construction and design industries.
On top of helping to regenerate Portugal’s forests, the Cork Pot and soap bar help to prevent the hundreds of millions of shampoo bottles, which are used and discarded every year.
Lush was awarded a Carbon Neutral certification from the Carbon Trust for its Cork Pot. To achieve certification, the Carbon Trust looked at the full emissions lifecycle of the pots, including the carbon stored in the cork forest where the material originates, the manufacturing process, transport emissions (road freight), retail and end-of-life.
The company is looking to further reduce its transport emissions by using a traditional sailing boat to deliver Cork Pots to the UK – a four-week journey.

"...We came to study it more closely and found that a Cork Pot was actually removing more CO2 than it was emitting over its lifecycle. It was a groundbreaking moment...Packaging that is quite literally fighting climate change."

Simon Brewer and Ben Davis - Environmental Impact Team, Lush

Key Design Considerations:

Scaling sustainably

The Portugal Nature Association says sustainable management is essential for its cork oak population. Together with the WWF, the organisation has created the Green Heart of Cork project, which looks to reward those with good farming and forestry practices. The organisations are also working towards making Portuguese cork oak forests FSC-certified. When using cork for packaging, ensure you are sourcing from, or working with, these enterprises.

Experiment with customer activations

Lush leans into the soft, easy-to-handle nature of cork as an opportunity for in-store activation with personalised laser engraving. Seeing as its cork pots are more costly that its aluminium ones, engaging customers with bespoke, one-of-a-kind experiences that enable them to have a unique product will encourage purchase.

Lightweight reductions

Cork weighs just 0.16 grams per cubic centimetre and is therefore an ideal material for reducing packaging weight, and in turn reducing shipping emissions. Conducting a review of your packaging materials could help you pinpoint the best candidates for a switch to cork.

Listen to your audience

Lush’s ‘Naked’ range comes in a variety of shapes and dimensions, and customers often call for a wider selection of container sizes to accommodate the products, however there remains just one on the market. Can you extend the positive impact of cork with a versatile selection of containers?

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Lush Cork Pots

WHAT WE SAY:

Lush’s cork beauty container is not only a replacement for the plastic tubs and bottles we have become accustomed to, but it also promises to have a net positive impact on the planet.

KEY FACTS:

DIVE DEEPER:

The UK alone throws away 520 million shampoo bottles each year and most of these bottles will only have a 30% recycling rate.

Lush’s Cork Pot is a supporting product for the company’s ‘Naked,’ unpackaged products, which constitute a whopping 66% of its core range. The lightweight nature of the pot makes the solid, unpackaged shampoo bars portable without resorting to plastic tubs or miniatures.

Lush was driven to make its Cork Pot in 2017 as proof of concept that a piece of packaging can be regenerative, biodegradable and profitable. The brand’s initial annual order of 35,000 units rose to 500,000 by 2020.

Due to the wine industry - which accounts for more than 70% of Portugal’s cork export - opting for metallic or plastic screw cap options over cork bottle stoppers, the Portuguese cork oak industry had been in decline.

To tackle the issue, Lush teamed up with environmental education group Eco Interventions to help support the farmers to build more sustainable forests.

Cork oak trees are important for preventing soil erosion and desertification, and encouraging plant diversity and animal shelter. The industry also creates sustainable jobs for local communities.

Initiatives such as Lush’s have driven a resurgence in cork production over the last few years. Portuguese cork exports set a record in 2021, reaching USD 1.2 billion in value. 12% of the growth was attributed to the construction and design industries.

On top of helping to regenerate Portugal’s forests, the Cork Pot and soap bar help to prevent the hundreds of millions of shampoo bottles, which are used and discarded every year.