high on the future of hemp

von Ben Dronkers | HempFlax

Artikel auf Deutsch: www.hanf-magazin.com/bd4

There are three questions that all cannabis lovers should know the answer to.

Firstly, what can industrial hemp be used for?

Secondly, who is Ben Dronkers?

And finally, what does one have to do with the other?

Fill up a vape, roll a joint, pull up a comfy chair, and get to know the past, present and future of the world’s most versatile plant and the man who resurrected it from near-extinction in Europe.

The oldest crop, still with the most potential for the future

The subject of hemp fills me with energy and excitement. I’m genuinely as passionate about the industrial varieties of cannabis as I am about the psychoactive strains that are the foundation of Sensi Seeds. It is no exaggeration to say that hemp, one of the very first crops to be cultivated by humankind, is still the crop with the most potential to benefit our future.

Many years ago, I was inspired by my good friend Jack Herer’s book ‘The Emperor Wears No Clothes’. I decided to look into the Dutch agricultural tradition of hemp farming. In the early 90s, this practice was all but extinct in Europe. I decided that I was going to revive it. In 1994, HempFlax began with a hemp harvest of 140 hectares. By 2020, we expect to cultivate 3500 hectares, split between the Netherlands, Germany, and the newest location, in Romania.

HempFlax is an exciting company. It continues to research, explore, and innovate. Our CEO Mark Reinders began his career there on a student work placement; I would say that along with myself, there are few other people on the planet who are as passionate about hemp, and as directly involved in unlocking its full potential, as he is.

CBD – a cannabinoid of extraordinary power and versatility

Anyone who has an interest in health foods and ‘nutraceuticals’ has surely heard of cannabidiol (more commonly known as CDB) by now. Unlike its mindexpanding sibling THC, this non-psychoactive cannabinoid is not just found in the unpollinated flowers of the female cannabis plant. CBD can be extracted from both male and female industrial hemp plants. It interacts with the endocannabinoid system, a biological network found in almost all creatures (both vertebrate and invertebrate).

The endocannabinoid system acts like a kind of thermostat for a number of important factors including blood sugar and pH, body temperature, the balance of water and minerals, and the disposal of metabolic waste. Obviously, a wellfunctioning endocannabinoid system is essential for good health in humans and animals. It is thought that, as more research is done into CBD and legislation catches up with it, CBD could be “the vitamin C of the future” – a useful, easily available, beneficial food supplement that everyone is familiar with and can take when needed. The World Health Organisation are in the process of reviewing the legal status of CBD, so it is to be hoped that this potential could soon be realised!

Acid restistant CBD capsules

HempFlax is at the forefront of the European CBD market. The range of CBD products currently available includes oils, sublingual drops, e- liquids, and most recently, capsules. HempFlax has succeeded in developing a type of acid-resistant CBD capsule. Unlike other capsules on the market, which dissolve in the stomach where the bioavailability of the CBD is low, the HempFlax capsules do not dissolve until they reach the bowel, where the maximum amount of CBD can be absorbed. Capsules are popular with people who find the taste of CBD oil too intense, or have difficulty obtaining the exact dosage they need using a dropper.

Hemp bioplastics - finally, a sustainable, durable and biodegradable alternative

Our reliance on plastic is propelling us rapidly towards disaster. It clogs the oceans; figures from the Worldwatch Institute state that “10-20 million tons of plastic end up in the oceans each year”. In 2015, the United Nations Environmental Program calculated that 22 % to 43 % of plastic used worldwide is disposed of in landfills. All but a minute fraction of plastic is petroleum-based. Worldwide, 4 % of this finite, fossil fuel resource is used to create plastic, and another 4 % powers plastic manufacturing. All of this contributes to climate change.

Look around you right now; how many things can you see that are made of plastic? The vast majority of them will have been made using petrochemicals and the injection moulding process. Although they may break, the material they are made from will almost certainly outlast you; it may well outlast the next generation. However, plastics have become essential to many beneficial industries. For example, food storage and transportation, healthcare, and technology all rely heavily on plastics – a computer keyboard made of glass, wood, or metal would not be an improvement!

Obviously, there is desperate need for a solution to this conundrum. Previously, attempts to create plant fibre-based plastics, also called bioplastics, had foundered when the long fibres kept clogging the injection moulding equipment. Plant fibres made short enough to solve this problem caused a new problem: the plastic was too weak to be durable. The fibres had been degraded from being a strengthening component to what is known as a ‘filler’ (cheap petrochemical plastic often uses chalk as a filler, which bulks out the plastic polymer but makes it brittle and easily broken).

A revolutionary breakthrough in bioplastic injection moulding

HempFlax has now perfected a method of pelletizing hemp fibres that are long enough to give bioplastic even more strength than petrochemical equivalents, without clogging the all-important injection moulding machinery. These innocuous-looking dark brown pellets can genuinely revolutionize most of the plastic items we use on a daily basis.

Faced with reluctance from plastics manufacturers to risk their expensive and essential equipment, Hemp- Flax has invested in a plastic injection moulding set-up of our own. It is currently being installed in a free space at the HempFlax headquarters in Oude Pekela, North Holland. Once up and running, the company will begin offering demonstrations and training sessions to convince manufacturers of the power of hemp!

HempFlax has successfully implemented numerous innovations in the field of industrial hemp during the last two decades but given the new potential of hemp-based bioplastics to replace so many items, this may be its most significant to date. I can’t help thinking that Jack Herer would have loved this.

Hemp and the reduction of CO2 emissions

Rather than contributing to climate change, hemp bioplastic may help to reduce it somewhat (if used on a large enough scale). Replacing fibreglass as a reinforcing component in plastics alone will lead to reduced carbon and heat emissions; glass needs to be kept at a temperature of 1371°C in order to make it into fibres.

HempFlax is one of the very rare carbon-negative companies. The amount of CO2 absorbed by their 2,500 hectares of hemp as it grows is less than the amount produced by their manufacturing processes. Not only that, but CO2 is ‘locked’ into the products made from hemp and remains there until that product biodegrades or is burned. Hemp bioplastic is so strong and durable that the CO2 in it could be kept out of the atmosphere for decades.

As for biodegrading, that depends on what polymer the hemp fibres are blended with. Even fully biodegradable hemp plastic needs forced composting conditions – high temperatures, a careful balance of water and air, the right microbes – to biodegrade. The good news is that plastic items which have to withstand rain and sun, such as garden furniture or plant pots, will last for many years!

The hemp design factory and hemp villa

HempFlax is a superb embodiment of the adage ‘think globally, act locally’. The company recently began a project in partnership with local universities and businesses to showcase the qualities of hemp as a building material. The ‘Hemp Villa’, a building being constructed in the grounds of HempFlax in Oude Pekela, will prove that classic aesthetic design, highly durable modern materials, and minimal environmental impact can combine into a harmonious whole.

It was officially inaugurated by the Mayor of Oude Pekela in January 2018. The Hemp Design Factory is ultimately intended to act as a creative workspace that can be shared by people from many different disciplines but a common interest in hemp. The plans feature meeting rooms, art and design spaces, a laboratory, a canteen – everything that could be asked for from a state-of-theart workspace.

I have always loved the cannabis plant, and not only has it always excited and rewarded me in the past, it continues to do so in the present, and I have no doubt it will in the future!

The research continues to push the frontiers of what hemp can be used for

Ben Dronkers, together with Mark Reinders, continues to pioneer new developments across the entire range of hemp applications. The face of the industrial hemp market has radically changed in the last two decades. As the plant continues to surprise and delight a global audience with its multifacetted nature, we can only dream of where we will be two decades from now. As Ben says, “it’s all about the plant!”