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.