Hemp Hurds are the left-over fragments of the stems and stalk once all the fibers have been removed. These left-over parts of the Hemp Plant are very useful. The fragments are of most use in two different forms. First as untreated and unrefined bits of plant mass, they can be used in a wide varity of beneficial products, from cement and insulation to the most astounding use as 100% completely tree-free paper. The second useful form of Hemp Hurds is in the form of pulp, when the hurds are smashed and ground up a powdery Hemp Pulp substances is created. Hemp Pulp can be used to make biodegradable plastics, plastics that can easily be broked down and/or recycled. They can be implied to just about any use, from plastic wrap to kitchen bowls. A more indepth explanation of these uses of Hemp Hurds follow. Look for these paragraph topics below: As Paper, As Insulation and More, and As Plastics.
As Paper
As Insulation and More As Plastics
Hemp Hurds are excellent for paper, but inorder to benefit from hemp as paper, America needs to grow its own Hemp crops, and not import it, we do currently import it for many high quality and durabile types of art paper. Hemp can be made into every type of paper currently produced from trees, books and writing paper as well as all thicknesses of cardboard can simply be made, adding Hemp fibers to the Hemp Hurd paper mix makes the paper even stronger. Most paper factories or mills can easily be converted to manufacture Hemp paper, many of the machines already have the capability to produce Hemp paper because of such a similarity between tree pulp and hemp hurds or pulp (Hemp Hurds are refered to as pulp once they have been "pulped" and shredded for paper use, this pulp is different then the hemp pulp used for plastics). Hemp is perfect for making paper because of its high content of cellulose which is desirable for paper production. Tree's contain about 60% cellulose while Hemp contains about 77% cellulose. But that's not the only reason to use Hemp for paper, Hemp grows extremely fast and is fully replinished each year, trees take 15-20 years to grow large enough to be useful. On top of that an acre of Hemp produces 4 times as much paper pulp then an acre of trees. Hemp paper in comparison to tree paper last longer and doesn't "yellow" as much with age, plus it can be recycled up to ten times as much as traditional tree paper.
Raw Hemp Hurds can be mixed or coated with several chemicals or substances to produce different products. By coating the Hurds with silica they are mineralized and made moisture-repellent, which can be used as insulation or also mixed with cement, this cement is of greater quality with Hemp Hurds because it is 1/7 the weight of regular cement, plus it is fireproof, earthquake resistant, and it seals out noise and water, it is also used for making walls. Also treating the Hurds with bitumen which is like tar, makes an excelent floor insulation that doesn't shift under pressure once hardened. In anceint times people would add handfuls of Hemp fibers to their clay for stronger building bricks. Hemp Hurds can be made into soft and conforable stuffing for mattresses, couches, and jackets. Hemp unlike cotton doesn't need any pesticides. Hemp is equally as insulative as cotton, but over time it will not clump together like cotton does. Hemp hurds are very obsorbent and make excellent animal bedding, the hurds can also be molded into pellets and used as kitty litter, there are several companies world wide that use Hemp Hurds for these products.
Hemp Hurds can and should be used as an alternative ingredient for making plastics, because of their naturally high level of cellulose they can be made into many types of plastics. First the hurds are crushed and beaten untill a fine powder is made, then it is polymerized to different degrees depending on what type of plastic is desired. The plastic is made without using petroleum, unlike most of today's plastics which require petroleum in the manufacturing process, also unlike today's plastics, the Hemp plastic is biodegradable and can be broken down and recycled. It will not need to be shipped of to a local landfill when it is no longer usable, it can easily be broken down in a non-polluting manner, or it can be turned into just about anything from pop bottles to chair covers. Many Europian countries already use plastics made from Hemp Hurds for fruit bowls, clocks etc. As technology improves and better methods for turning Hemp into plastic develope, the many Hemp companies throughout the world all agree that hemp someday could replace every current need and use for plastics.
