Fibre Characteristics and Chemical Pulping of Canadian Industrial Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.), 1998 Pulping Conference Proceedings

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A forecasted demand for fibre resources exceeding the forecasted available supply and increasing public support for the environmental movement has provided an impetus for the development of non-wood fibre sources. As a result, a wide variety of agricultural species are being considering for use in the production of paper and composite wood products. These species include kenaf, bagasse, jute, switch grass and hemp. The Canadian government, as an alternative to commercial tobacco plantations, has recently encouraged cultivation of industrial hemp. This study investigates the usefulness of hemp fibres in terms of wood chemical composition and chemical pulp for papermaking processes. By determining the precise proportions of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and extractable chemicals in Canadian-grown hemp fibres, a basis of comparison is formed to evaluate the suitability of these fibres in various papermaking processes. The fibre was chemically pulped in the laboratory to determine optimum cooking conditions. The delignification kinetics of hemp proves to be comparable to other non-wood fibre species and significantly different from traditional wood species. The results of this study show that the pulp and paper industry should give consideration to using this fibre in chemical pulping processes as a supplementary raw material source.