Hemp Paper

Artikel auf Deutsch: www.hanf-magazin.com/nl4

von Nathan Liddell | Hemp.press

One could easily make the argument that the beginnings of modern American hemp paper are rooted in Germany, after all inventor George Schlichten is German.

After immigrating from Germany, G.W. Schlichten made a home for himself in San Diego, California, where his passion for hemp drove the development of the modern decorticator. Up until that time, processing hemp was very labor intensive. It required numerous workers using hand brakes to crush the stalks to the point where the fibers could be separated from the hurds and used for paper. This fiber would be sold to mills, where it would be further refined until becoming usable material. The higher labor costs associated with hemp made it far less popular in the marketplace than cotton for textiles and wood pulp for paper. By the 1840’s, wood pulp-based paper had arrived and quickly became the cheapest available option, as cutting down the nation’s forests didn’t require farming labor of any kind. Aware of the setbacks that came with these costs, George Schlichten invested a great deal of his own time and money into removing those limitations. He states his intention clearly in the patent he filed in December of 1916; “... to provide means for so treating fibers that the treated product may be produced very cheaply and economically and in particular the fiber of ramie and hemp.”

Ramie is another fiber crop with a long history of human use. This herbaceous perennial, also known as “China Grass,” is a non-stinging member of the nettle family and grows in tall stalks, similar to those of hemp. The potential of ramie was also restricted by the large amount of labor needed to process the plant. Schlichten believed that his decorticator would be capable of, in his own words, “producing the fiber thereof through my means, thereby becoming as simple a farm crop as grain.”

Fast forward to today where the percentage of American agriculture devoted to hemp cultivation is growing rapidly yet remains a pittance when compared to any other commodity, like the eighty million acres of corn harvested annually. Domestic hemp production was severely limited by the controversial 1937 Marijuana Tax Act and has since then struggled to make a comeback in the United States. Fortunately, the American hemp industry doesn’t solely rely on national production to continue its growth. Being able to source hemp fiber internationally is what makes American-made hemp paper possible today. The other key component to hemp paper as a commodity is recycled post-consumer waste. When it comes to the most widely used hemp paper available today, you could technically say that hemp paper is 75 percent trash, but when that paper waste is combined with 25 percent hemp fibers, the end result is far from trashy.

What you get is a premium paper product with far more structural integrity than can be found in any product made using recycled paper alone. Mixed with recycled post-consumer paper, the hemp fibers serve similarly to metal rebar in concrete: adding stability and strength throughout the material. The low durability of post-consumer paper waste makes it suitable for use in thinner paper stocks, which limits the number of products that can be made from it. The addition of hemp removes that limitation. While its unique composition is the source of its strength, the stark differences between hemp and conventional tree fibers are what keep more paper mills and print shops from experimenting with the material.

Paper mills are unwilling to risk potential damage to their machinery by altering a process tooled specifically for wood pulp. Similarly, print shops operate machinery warranted to run only certified tree-based papers. Choosing more sustainable alternatives such as hemp creates high risk and little reward for businesses who lack passion and commitment for the future of hemp itself. Hemp paper is also more spongelike, which allows ink to be absorbed quickly. While this may not seem like a major issue, print shops need to fine tune their process before being able to complete each individual print job. When all their printing is done on tree-based paper, print shops generally can’t afford the time investment or special equipment it takes to do high quality hemp paper printing. However, there is one company in Eugene, Oregon which has gone out of its way to make those additional investments.

“Most printers run the risk of having pieces of hemp from the paper break loose and jam up their equipment causing un-warranted damage to their high-end machinery, but our specialized processes make operating with that routine occurrence a nonissue.” Matthew Glyer, the owner of Hemp Press, has spent the last five years refining his company’s operating procedures to provide the best possible printing available on hemp paper. The custom packaging and printing they offer blows away the competition but since Hemp Press is currently the only exclusively hemp paper print shop that goes without saying. While the print industry has suffered greatly from digitalization with many print shops shutting their doors, Hemp Press has grown steadily since its inception, assisted greatly by the newly legalized American cannabis industry.

One flagship product is their signature Crutch Card. Taking the form of a business card, Crutch Cards are perforated into sections easily removed for use as a hemp filter tip for those who like to roll their own. With the user in mind, Crutch Cards are printed with Hemp Press’ proprietary blends of soy and water-based inks. The fastest growing segment of Hemp Press’s business is engineering and production of custom hemp paper packaging for premium eco-conscious brands. Prototype packaging designs are created by the Hemp Press team before being sent to a laser cutter, where the faintest aroma of smoke pervades the air as the box is cut to size. Differently cut shapes are created and proofed based on customer specifications, eventually finding the perfect box for each product, which range from jars of natural beauty products and dropper bottles of CBD oil to vape cartridges and joint boxes. A long way still from mainstream use, printing and packaging with hemp paper offers a unique opportunity for businesses to add to the growth of the entire hemp industry. Every order that leaves Matt Glyer’s print shop results in more hemp seeds being planted for fiber. The paper used to complete an order of 500 business cards requires the planting of another 100 hemp seeds. Creating additional demand for hemp in the global economy, each business card tempting more farmers considering the switch to hemp. With its numerous benefits, the future of hemp for paper will largely be decided by whether businesses choose to package and promote their hemp goods on hemp itself.