Hemp is seeing a renaissance of sorts after the 2018 Farm BIll removed it from the Controlled Substances Act, opening the door for a new era of exploration for the hemp industry. Hemp can be used to create a number of different products, including paper. And now, a new project looking closer at the recyclability of hemp fibers for paper making is receiving financial support from the Hemp Innovations Foundation, Hemp Gazette reports.
The project, Hemp Recycles, is a collaboration between the Hemp Innovations Foundation and Western Michigan University and seeks a definitive answer regarding how often hemp can be recycled when used as paper. The project references t It will see various wood pulps tested for recyclability, along with a parallel series of tests done with hemp pulp provided by Hemp Press, an Oregon hemp paper company.
The Hemp Recycles website references hemp paper as a sustainable and renewable alternative moving into the future, as it is more recyclable than tree paper.
“It is often repeated that Hemp Paper can be recycled up to 8 times, compared to just 3 times for paper made from wood pulp. Our team of experts is on a mission to separate fact from fiction and shed light on the virtues of plant based paper,” the site reads.
It also dives into the effects of deforestation, referencing the 386 million hectares of forest lost globally from 2001 to 2019, an almost 10% decrease in tree cover since 2000. With global consumption of paper and pulp expected to double, along with increasing paper and production waste rates, the world’s forests face further pressure while they are “already in a critical state and getting worse each day,” the site reads.
According to Hemp Recycles, a single acre of hemp can produce as much paper as four to 10 acres of trees over a 20-year cycle, and while trees take 20 to 80 years to fully grow, hemp grows in just four months. Ultimately, the hope is that this research will collect data to determine the potential long-term environmental impacts of using hemp-based paper instead of wood fiber papers.
“This research is the culmination of more than a decade of hemp paper innovation at Hemp Press,” Hemp Press CEO Matthew Glyer said in a media release. “Our aim is to establish hemp as the pre-eminent alternative fiber needed to protect and preserve the most effective and widely distributed carbon capture device on Earth, our Ancient and Endangered Forests.”
Glyer also acts as the executive director of the Hemp Recycles Project. The Hemp Innovations Foundation (HIF) is a sister organization of the National Hemp Association (NHA).
“The NHA and HIF truly believe this type of research that separates fact from fiction is exactly what the industry needs,” said Erica Stark, executive director of NHA and NIF. “Hemp for paper products holds so much potential and this research will provide long-term benefits well beyond the life of the project.”
Global pulp for paper production has remained above 180 million metric tons per year over the past decade, according to Statista. The pulp is most often sourced from trees, which aren’t always harvested sustainably. The U.S. also produces the most pulp of any country.
The conversation goes well beyond paper, too. Of course, the market is booming with hemp-derived CBD and THC products, but other industry innovators are looking into the diverse capabilities of hemp as an alternative, more sustainable material. Just in the last year, denim brand Mava has introduced its new hemp denim, an Irish nonprofit has teamed up with an English hemp farm to create tiny homes made from hemp, researchers have created a hemp alternative to steel rebar and even hemp-reliant batteries.
