Highlights:
- About 10,000 years ago, hemp was used for making paper, fibre, and even in medicines. The world’s first paper was partially made from hemp
- One acre of industrial hemp produces paper equivalent to 4-10 acres of trees
- Animesh Thakur, Sarabjeet Rattan and Shailesh Ganeriwala, are the founders of OG Hemp organization that makes paper from high-quality hemp plants
Digitization is a popular trend and every sector is exploring its best fit for paperless work, data storage etc. in the digitized world. However, interestingly, still an average office worker uses roughly 10,000 sheets of copy paper per year. For instance, dairy writing is one such habit still popular and emotion among millennials to consume information. Of course, cyber security is putting more files into classified documents in printed form 🙂
The estimated two fold increase in global production of paper is a clear sign that paper is still in demand. Since wood pulp is the key raw material for paper production, unsustainable production practices may create pressure on ecological ecosystems. And on the other side of the story, paper has its significance and relevance in work life applications. So, the key is producing paper from sustainable materials which are alternatives to wood.
“An alternative to tree paper is the need of the hour. We had a centuries-old tradition that produced paper sustainably – the hemp paper.” Said Shailesh Ganeriwala.
About 10,000 years ago, hemp was used for making paper, fibre, and even in medicines. The world’s first paper was partially made from hemp. It will be fascinating to know the Gutenberg Bible and the American Declaration of Independence had the presence of hemp paper.
However, the prominence of hemp came down after some time. Medical, social and legal reasons hindered the exploration of hemp products.
Lately, people, governments and organisations recognised the benefits of hemp again. Businesses started inventing and innovating products from hemp value additions.
Animesh Thakur, Sarabjeet Rattan and Shailesh Ganeriwala, are the founders of OG Hemp organization that makes paper from high-quality hemp plants.
Team OG Hemp says-“Paper made from hemp has very high molecular binding. This gives the paper extreme tensile, bursting and tearing strength along with high folding endurance. hemp stalks grow in 4 months, whereas trees take 20-80 years to mature. One acre of industrial hemp produces paper equivalent to 4-10 acres of trees. That too over a 20-year cycle. Moreover, paper from hemp fibres does not turn yellow or brown with age.
The amount of lignin in the hemp fibres is very less. This makes the pulping process faster with less use of chemicals. In addition to that hemp paper is compostable when the conditions are optimum. Alkaline-based chemicals are used to convert hemp into pulp. For whitening the hemp paper, hydrogen peroxide is used”.
Before foraying into hemp paper, the team considered multiple applications of hemp for their business. They learned the decortication techniques of hemp and various applications of hemp in sectors such as topical, food and medicine.
However, there are various challenges while starting the business. For OG Hemp, ensuring raw material genuinity and availability was a challenge. Another challenge was to find a solution to produce hemp pulp for application in the paper industry from scratch.
Disappearing legal and social taboo around hemp is making the hemp business lucrative. Moreover, India’s backing of the UN reclassification of hemp has sparked hopes. This means India will join the new global movement towards exploring the medicinal and commercial potential of cannabis.
Furthermore, team OG Hemp wishes for more government support to conduct extensive research on hemp. They say that the research will be beneficial in many ways. This includes specifying the levels of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to consider as industrial hemp.
OG Hemp is on a journey to restore the legacy of the hemp industry by offering sustainable, all-natural, non-toxic paper for domestic and commercial applications.
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