Hemp set to fulfill its legal potential

By Gary Mead

Its earliest recorded use was for fishing nets in China in 2800
BC. In the late 16th century, Elizabeth I decreed that all English
farmers should grow it as it was vital for her navy. Yet in the late 20th
century its possession is often a criminal offense.

Hemp, however, is making a comeback, with several companies in Europe hoping
it will challenge artificial fibers. Derived from the cannabis sativa plant,
hemp is extremely tough and flexible, with impeccable environmental
credentials.

For industrial users, hemp had one big drawback its flowers and leaves
have gained popularity as an illegal drug, the active ingredient being
tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. Varieties of cannabis for smoking can have as
much as 20 per cent THC content.

But thanks to a French plantbreeder who has developed lowTHC varieties
containing less than 0.3 percent, hempgrowing for industrial purposes is now
legal in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, including the Netherlands.

As Mr. John Hobson, general manager of Hemcore, Europe’s secondbiggest hemp
processor, says: “You would need to smoke a huge field of our hemp to notice
any effect.”

Hemcore stated business in 1993 and now has 80 UK farmers, licensed by the
Home Office, under contract. The EU currently subsidizes hemp production at
$260 (English Pounds) an acre, although that is likely to drop to $230 this
year. The subsidy is vital to us in the short term while we research the
markets for this new crop,” says Mr. Hobson.

In its first year Hemcore planted 1,500 acres and set up its decortication
plant in north Essex. This year it has planted 5,400 acres.

“It’s a zerowaste process,” says Mr. Hobson. “We use all the hemp plant,
from which derive two basic products the core and the fibre. Hemcore’s
average yield is about 2.5 metric tonnes an acre.”

The original business opportunity spotted by Hemcore’s founders was in horse
bedding. Hemp’s core is highly absorbent, dustfree important, as horses
can be allergic to dust and rots down fast.

“Its competitors are wood shavings and straw. Hemp horse bedding sells in
the UK at about $7 (English Pounds) a bale, and Hemcore new produces hundreds
of thousands of bales annually. We’re now selling across the UK all the
royal horses at Buckingham Palace use our bedding as well as Belgium,
France and elsewhere in Europe,” says Mr. Hobson.

But horse bedding was just a start. Hemcore is planning to double its
acreage in 1998 in order to move into specialist papermaking, in particular
packaging.

“The key to this is development of the markets for fibre. The only real
market for that at the moment is cigarette tissue, the paper in which tobacco
is rolled, and cigarette filters. But there are several European competitors
in this field; there’s more fibre than the cigarette producers can take,”
argues Mr. Hobson.

So Mr. Hobson also has his eye on replacing glass fibre, and is producing
hemp matting of different weights and strengths.

“We see the future for this matting as a direct fibre glass replacement. To
construct a part measuring one cubic meter from fibre glass you nee 2,600kg
of fibre glass, costing $2 (English Pounds) a kg. Using hemp fibre you can
make the samesized part with just 1,200kg, costing $1.60 (English Pounds) a
kg,” says Mr. Hobson.

Ford has recently agreed to substitute Hemcore’s matting for the fibre glass
used in the parcel shelves inside its Transit van.

And Hemcore may yet get high, even with THCreduced hemp. This week a UK
aircraft manufacturer said it was considering Hemcore’s matting for its
fighter planes and gun turrets.

“It’s cheaper, healthier and lighter in weight,” suggests Mr. Hobson. “The
commercial and environmental arguments stack up in our favor.”

Contact:
Mr. John Hobson
Hemcore, Ltd.
Station Road
Felsted
Great Dunmow
Essex, England CM6 3HL

011441371820066 office
011441371820069 fax