Hemp or Cannabis sativa, is an ancient crop. It has been cultivated since 4000 BC in its country of origin, China. The Chinese used cannabis for medical purposes as well as for producing clothing and paper. For centuries, hemp and wood formed the two main raw materials for the shipping industry. Sails and rigging of the Viking ships as well as the vessels explorer Christopher Columbus used for crossing the world’s oceans were made of cannabis (canvas). The hemp plant was therefore partly responsible for discovering America. 

Hemp was largely driven out of the American and European fields in 1937 after the USA labeled cannabis as a prohibited plant. After centuries of serving as a fiber crop and yielding economic returns, hemp was suddenly marked as detrimental to public health.  Oil barons and other stakeholders in the booming oil extraction industry led this anti-hemp lobby. Supported by politicians, these industrialists paved the way for development of the petrochemical and the plastics industry. Products such as nylon and other synthetic fibers then rapidly replaced the role of hemp. 

Less than sixty years later, in the late 1990s, hemp was rediscovered in Europe as a renewable, sustainable raw material source. Current environmental problems led to a renewed interest in hemp. Why would we unnecessarily pollute our environment using synthetic substances when we could make products from natural fibers? 

Hemp can make a valuable contribution to a better planet if we use hemp as a fiber source. Today, hemp is not only processed into specialty paper but also into medicine, clothing, nutrition, thermoplastics, cars, building and insulation material, graphene as well as in body care products and for animal care.