Pulp Paper & Logistics
INDUSTRY NEWS 7
Hemp stalks are being used by a US manufacturer to make paper
hemp stalks grown and pulped in Colorado for conversion into rolls of hemp paper. With delivery of the hemp paper
C
rolls, the privately-owned firm says it has taken a major step to establish the infrastructure to create a business using hemp paper to make cards, boxes, card stock and packaging materials for customers in Colorado and beyond. PureHemp, a vertically-integrated industrial hemp processor, says it has developed a new biorefining technology and operates its own mini hemp refinery that converts stalks into pulp and other usable co-products. Hemp pulp has been under production for three years for delivery to Boulder-based Bloomin’ Paper where the pulp has
Hemp products are made into paper at a Michigan mill
been converted into hand-made paper used for business cards, packaging and poster board. PureHemp claims to be the first
company in the world to produce CBD tinctures from hemp flowers and then use hemp stalks to make boxes for its CBD-based products. In July, 480 pounds of 100 per
cent virgin hemp pulp shipped from PureHemp’s based at Ft Lupton was used to make six thicknesses of paper. As a conservative first step, the hemp was blended with 40 per cent
virgin soft wood pulp and 40 per cent virgin hardwood pulp, creating a 20 per cent hemp paper blend. The six different weights of paper will be used to make a variety of boxes and card stock. “During the past three years
we’ve been making hemp paper from stalks on a small-scale,” said Ed Lehrburger, chief executive of PureHemp. “Plans are now under way to
produce a 33 per cent blend of hemp paper followed by a 50 per cent blend, later in 2019. Every
Prepare for ‘right sizing’ in corrugated e-commerce packaging
The rise in demand for corrugated boxes from e-commerce could be hit by Amazon’s desire to boost its environmental profile while further reducing operating costs and increasing customer convenience. As figures for US containerboard mill and corrugated box output from the American Forest & Paper Association and the Fibre Box Association showed a 3.4
olorado-based PureHemp Technology says that a Michigan paper mill is using
pound of hemp pulp used to make paper products replaces one pound of tree pulp taken from forests. Hemp grows to its full size in about 120 days compared to trees that are harvested after seven to 30 years to make tree pulp. “We’re now officially open for business, providing hemp-based paper stock and packaging. Now’s the time to establish the hemp processing infrastructure to utilise millions of pounds of hemp stalks grown in Colorado and around the world.” PureHemp uses countercurrent
reactor (CCR) pulping technology. Using a self-funded CCR pilot plant, PureHemp has demonstrated its biorefining innovation that rapidly extracts the basic constituents of the stalks – the cellulose-rich pulp, lignin and xylose-rich sugars – to make a range of bio-based products for many industries.
per cent drop in August, a study by the Freedonia Group into the $13 billion global e-commerce
packaging market outlines the latest trends. Amazon and other global
e-commerce leaders such as
JD.com in China are driving an industry-wide trend toward primary packaging formats that: ● can be reused by the customer or the shipper if it is returned ● reduces or eliminates need for void fill and protective packaging (such as right-sizing) ● reduces or eliminates need for secondary packaging, such as boxes ● uses less material overall (such as source reduction) ● uses more recyclable materials. More information from
Freedonia Group at www.
freedoniagroup.com
September/October 2019
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