▲Hemp, Inc., founded in 2008, aims to make eco-friendly products which can often replace petroleum-based products.
Hemp Inc. has begun processing industrial hemp for bioplastics at a location in North Carolina.
In an Aug. 22 news release, officials with Las Vegas-based Hemp said the work is being done to help fill growing demand for sustainable products and to enter the firm's third natural product venture.
Hemp material now is being processed for bioplastics at an 85,000-square-foot industrial processing center in Spring Hope, N.C. The firm also operates a processing center in Medford, Ore., and a 500-acre hemp growing site in Golden Valley, Ariz.
Products being processed include a proprietary blend of hemp and kenaf – a separate plant – that's specifically formulated for the hemp bioplastics industry, officials said. Hemp Inc. previously has developed two products for the CBD oil industry.
Officials added that the firm's hemp bioplastic has completed positive beta testing. The blend will be provided to "multiple companies" to help fill growing demand for natural and hemp-based products for the bioplastics industry, they said.
Hemp Inc. CEO Bruce Perlowin said in the release that "I have always been an environmentalist … which means being part of the supply chain for hemp bioplastic has me beside myself, walking on cloud nine."
"This is a venture no one else is doing in America and what hemp was put on this earth to do," he added. "While everyone focuses on CBD, we are here focusing on the next big thing, which is the industrial part of the plant – the part that can help save the world."
"As a company that has always been at the forefront of everything we do, this next venture into the hemp bioplastics industry with these products makes sense for the company…Entering hemp bioplastics is positioning the business for the early phase of expansion."