# @hightimesmagazine on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C6FKynVOPOM
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/16516946-hightimesmagazine-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/6cea566a83.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-04-22T22:36:49.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** High Times (@hightimesmagazine) — https://gondola.cc/hightimesmagazine

## Caption

Link in Bio. 🌱 A hemp producer based in Dayton, Ohio has a new customer for its crop after the firm signed a deal with a processor in nearby Michigan to provide raw material for hemp-based bioplastics. Under its new contract with Detroit-based Heartland Industries heartlandmaterials), TheOhioHempCompany will provide hemp fiber to produce bioplastic that will eventually become auto parts manufactured by a Belgian firm called Ravago.

Ohio Gov Mike DeWine signed legislation to legalize hemp in the state in 2019, the year after Congress legalized the crop on the national level with the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill. TJ Richardson and Justin Helt, owners of Ohio Hemp Company, were among the first farmers in the state to farm the crop. 

They began planting for the CBD market. Once the industry began to retract, Richardson and Helt pivoted to growing hemp plants bred for grain and fiber, rather than cannabinoids. Then, they would discover Heartland Industries, and a deal was made.

What are hemp bioplastics? Heartland uses the hemp fiber grown by Ohio Hemp and other farmers in the Midwest to manufacture small hemp pellets known as nurdles (seen in first pic). After this initial processing, the nurdles are transported to Ravago, where they are mixed with plastic nurdles to produce a bioplastic composed of 70% plastic and 30% hemp fiber and used to manufacture auto industry parts, although there are different types of bioplastics and applications.

According to Heartland's site, "22.5% is the magic number, if 22.5% of a plastics weight is bio material, it is considered a #bioplastic."

“Everybody wants to have a product that’s better for the environment, but it’s hard to do it if it compromises the cost and it compromises performance,” says Tim Almond, chairman and co-founder. “We found a happy balance with the plastic manufacturing world where we can use this ingredient at 30% in the recipe, and we could see cost savings, we can see weight reduction, we can see performance maintaining the same, but most importantly we can see the reduction in carbon footprint.”
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Full story on HighTimes.com/news
Report by a.j.herrington | #earthday #hemp

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## Tags

earthday, bioplastic, hemp

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