Hemp could be used to make packaging that would replace plastics which are facing increasing bans, according to a research team at the University of Western Ontario at London.
They say that hemp that’s left over from cannabis production could be used to make the packaging. Much of that hemp is either composted or dumped in landfill sites, they said.
The team led by chemistry professor Elizabeth Gillies and mechanical and materials engineering professor Aaron Price worked with CTK Bio Canada of British Columbia to develop the biodegradable, hemp-based material.
“Depending on the form, hemp can have a fibrous structure, which acts perfectly as a reinforcement for materials,” said Gillies. “Basically, hemp is stronger and more malleable than many other biomaterials.”
The aim of the project was to find a proxy for widely used industrial plastics such as high-density polyethylene pellets, which could be fed into the same manufacturing process currently used to produce plastic packaging.
The study, which was published in the Journal of Polymer Science, validates the new hemp-based biomaterial’s potential as a plastic alternative and opens the door to future industry collaborations and partnerships, the researchers said.
