Hemp in the paper industry - hemp paper
News News blog
Hemp paper was invented by the Chinese about 2000 years ago. Hemp textiles were the most important source of paper at that time, because until 1883 between 75 to 90 percent of the paper produced worldwide was made from hemp fibers. Thus, hemp was the basic material of books, Bibles, maps, paper money, securities and newspapers. After World War II, paper production from wood became cheaper, and hemp paper was thus increasingly replaced by paper made from wood.
Today, the market share of paper production in the hemp fiber market is 70- 80 percent. But still, almost nowhere you can buy hemp writing paper in the store. This is because only a small proportion of the hemp fibers used for pulp are traded freely, while most of it flows into integrated process chains. The resulting specialty pulps are processed into banknotes, cigarette paper, technical filters or hygiene products.
Only very few woods have a higher cellulose content than hemp (for example, beech or spruce wood). Hemp paper lasts a very long time and is comparatively tear-resistant even when wet. Due to the very low content of lignin, the use of chemicals in the production process is lower than in the production of wood paper. As an annual plant, hemp not only produces 4 to 5 times as much paper as wood on the same area, but can also be recycled more often than wood paper due to the high tensile strength of the hemp fiber.
Despite all its advantages, hemp accounts for only a negligible share of total paper production. The reason is the still significantly higher price of hemp compared to, for example, spruce wood. However, growing environmental awareness on the part of consumers and technical advances in paper production will certainly ensure that paper made from hemp will regain its former importance in the future.
