Continuing from our previous post about Hemp Paper, we have found an organisation who (among other things) are doing work in the UK in the area of hemp paper production and its feasibility.
The BioRegional Development Group, a charitable organisation who provide consultancy and solutions for sustainable living had the following to say:
“In 2003 we made a trial run into researching making hemp paper/textile production as a viable economical option in the UK, we used 80% London sourced post consumer waste paper and 20% Essex hemp. The paper was turned into writing sets and are available for purchase.
Hemp paper is stronger, finer and longer lasting than wood based paper which is why it is still used to make the finest grades such as cigarette papers, bibles and bank notes. The long, strong fibres of hemp can be used to upgrade shorter recycled paper fibres. Our work has now turned to developing machinery that can make paper pulp from wood and non-wood resources such as hemp; the BioRegional MiniMill is currently running paper production trials using straw and may trial hemp in the future.”
It’s interesting to note that not only did the group use a recycled/hemp paper mix, but they also sourced the materials from geographically close locations, further reducing the environmental impact of the hemp paper production process.
Read more on the feasibility of hemp production.
Read more on BioRegional MiniMills.