Cannabis Waste is Being Used to Create New Paper Packaging Material

Yes, you read that correctly. Cannabis (Marijuana) is being used to create a new paper packaging material. Due to the legalization of Marijuana for medical and recreational purposes in some states, there has been an increase in demand for cannabis cultivation. The increased demand has led to a rise in cannabis cultivation which directly leads to more bio-waste, namely, marijuana stalks.

Restalk LLC announced the first prototype of the paper in February 2016 and plans to go into commercial production this spring. Before you get all excited about the psychoactive effects of the cannabis paper, the company has confirmed that it contains “marginal levels of psychoactive properties”. In simple terms, there is hardly any THC in the paper so you wont be able to get high with it.

As of now, the company is planning for a commercial deployment by summer of 2016. The production will be scaled up in the second half of the year if the demand and supply chain increases. Initially, the company will service clients within the cannabis marketplace. Further avenues for incorporating the new paper packaging material will be explored. However, the safest bet right now is to reach out to relevant customers that will be able to relate with the product better.

The paper packaging might be able to work with other materials in the future. However, nothing can be said conclusively at the moment. A lot of time and efforts have gone into creating the paper packaging from cannabis bio-waste. Tests for blending the new packaging with different materials are going on but they are at a very nascent stage.

The important thing here is that the company is trying to test the blending capability of the new packaging with other sustainable materials. This will help to ensure that the final product is eco-friendly and cost effective also. When it does come out on a large scale commercial implementation, it will offer a wide range of solutions by giving new directions to packaging materials.