Hemp Bioplastics Taking Root in North America

It may be hard to meet someone off the street and ask them to list at least ten products that can be made from industrial hemp. Most people know CBD, clothing and one or two other products, but this crop can be processed into tens of thousands of products. Bioplastics are one of those products, and this use of hemp is beginning to take root in the U.S. and North America in general.

Hemp Inc., a company based in Las Vegas, converted a former sweet potato processing facility in North Carolina into an industrial hemp processing lab three years ago. The company has been importing hemp hurd (a by-product during hemp processing) from Europe and mixing it with kenaf (a plant fiber) in order to create a powdery bioplastic.

Bruce Perlowin, the founder and CEO of Hemp Inc., says that they would like to use hemp hurd sourced locally within the U.S. but there are so few processors that it would be hard to get the quantities needed to keep the bioplastics processing equipment working.

The bioplastics company wasn’t the recipient of any tax incentives or grants from the North Carolina state government when it set up shop, but they aren’t bothered by this lack of support in their effort to diversify the market for hemp grown in the state.

Earth Renewable Technologies based in Greer (South Carolina) is another company that has chosen to venture into the making of bioplastics from industrial hemp.

Earth Renewable Technologies CEO, Kim Fabri, says that the company makes bioplastic pellets from hemp. Those pellets are then fed into injection molds so that consumer goods, such as bottles and containers, housewares, coatings and films, and so many other finished products ca be made.

Fabri explains that they combine hemp biological matter and a lactic acid polymer to make the pellets used to make various products. He adds that unlike plastics made from petrochemicals which require hundreds of years to degrade, the bioplastics from industrial hemp break down in less than 90 days when composted.

Kim Fabri also echoes the cry of Bruce Perlowin that there is a massive shortage of hemp matter to use in the making of different bioplastics products. Fabri says that the U.S. alone should have more than 200 processing facilities for hemp bioplastics, but that will only happen once farmers take up the cultivation of hemp for fiber.

Experts believe that hemp industry companies like SinglePoint Inc. (OTCQB: SING) and Sugarmade Inc. (OTCQB: SGMD) see farmers as having more options in terms of which processors to sell their hemp to, and that means that the long-term sustainability of the crop is almost assured.

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