MJBizMag September 2020 - 100

Green Packaging
to cut through the paper, but every time
they put in a different stock, they have to
recalibrate the machine for that anyway. "
Halverson said the LinkedIn posts
have generated so much interest that
she has signed several letters of intent
and has other potential customers ready
to sign once she is up and running. In
July, Halverson estimated she would be
ready to take preorders in the next 30
to 60 days, once her final pulper and
paper mill-vetting process was complete
and she could get paper to her selected
product manufacturers.
" This is helping me build some data
points so I make sure that I make enough
paper, " Halverson said. " I'm showing the
world that this doesn't have to be centered
around cannabis. I'm (using hashtags for)
beverages and other industries, trying to
open up people's minds right now to the
possibilities of the hemp plant. That's also
given me more demand and created more
insurance. "
Halverson said she's also looking into
additional intellectual property using
organic adhesions and vegetable-based
inks on her packaging, because she is
adamant no harmful chemicals touch her
products.
" I don't use any chemicals or any
substances that I can't put in my body; if
I can't drink it, it doesn't go on my product, "
Halverson said.
As demand for plant-based packaging
ramps up, it's likely there will need to be
more cannabis waste to repurpose. Despite
regulatory pressures, the unprecedented
growth of the cannabis market worldwide
shows there will be ample supply for now,
according to Halverson, who sources all the
hemp waste for her paper from extraction
firms and hemp growers. While setting up
her business in North America, she has
made contacts in other parts of the world
that are ready to provide waste and help
her develop the international supply chain
for hemp paper.
The next step for Halverson is taking
the crop full circle and creating a living
soil made with hemp and paper waste for
farmers to boost their yields-a project
that's already in the works with a private
company, she said.
PLANT-BASED PLASTICS
According to the U.S. Natural Resources
Defense Fund, humans worldwide
produce 300 million tons of plastic
each year, half of which is for single-use
items-a figure nearly equivalent to the
weight of the entire human population.
Single-use plastics include packaging,
bottles, wrappers, straws and bags,
which are often disposed of immediately
after use.
Polyethylene terephthalate, which is
one of the most commonly recycled plastics,
can be recycled into products from
polyester to car parts, although 91% of all
plastic isn't recycled at all. Instead, that
waste ends up in landfills-or, worse yet,
discarded in the environment.
Currently, 99% of plastic is derived
from fossil fuels, which means the
market possibilities for plant-based
alternatives are endless. Two new
companies in the cannabis space are
aiming to bring products to market that
will make a difference.
Knot Plastic, a manufacturer based in
Saco, Maine, set out in February to create
safe, nonplastic alternative packaging
products.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit,
Knot Plastic co-founders Ry Russell
and Michael Osborne, an engineer, had
100 Marijuana Business Magazine | September 2020
already done all the tooling and were
ready to manufacture cannabis pre-roll
containers. But when manufacturers
were shut down, they quickly pivoted
to develop the plant-based Knot Plastic
bag, having quarantined themselves in a
factory to contain any potential spread of
the coronavirus.
The team started with ethanol
because of the abundant corn supply
and because they thought there was a
shortage of hemp, making the raw material
cost-prohibitive. But when they
learned about the oversupply of hemp
biomass from the 2019 crop, Russell
called some local farmers and started
experimenting.
" We added 15% of industrial hemp,
and we nailed that. Now, we're testing
25%, " Russell said. " We're testing to see
how much hemp we can add to our
polymers and start that transition now.
" Even if it's not permanent, we want to
include hemp in our cannabis packaging
that we're launching this fall. If next year
the economics don't make sense, we still
have a consistent supply of non-GMO
corn to make our polymers and our
high-density plastics. We're not a hemp
or corn company-we're a plant-based
plastics company. "
Knot Plastic can currently supply 15
million bags per month and has ordered
two more machines to produce the bags,
which will at least double production.
Ry Russell's company,
Knot Plastic, creates
plant-based bags
from corn and hemp.
Courtesy Photo
REIMAGINED
MJBizMag September 2020

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