Farmers could soon be growing cannabis to make eco-friendly foam cushions thanks to research done by scientists in Scotland.
Researchers at Scotland’s Rural College have found hemp – a plant best known for its hallucinogenic variety – can be used to make greener versions of environmentally damaging petrochemical products such as insulation, foam cushions and packaging.
Vijay Kumar Thakur, professor in new products from biomass at SRUC, said: “The future is definitely hemp. The potential is huge and if we want to be carbon neutral by 2050 it is invaluable.
Polyurethane alone is worth £14billion worldwide and there is no reason why hemp cannot replace that.”
The growth of hemp has been restricted by global governments because of its links with cannabis oil but the plants used in the research are from a different type of hemp.
The research comes after the first hemp farms were set up in Scotland.
Twelve farms in Aberdeenshire and Angus have set up a co-operative to grow hemp, which needs to be licensed.
The initial plan is to grow hemp for the medical cannabis market but the farmers hope to expand into other areas, including textiles and industrial use.
Kyle Esplin, chair of the Scottish Hemp Association, said: “Hemp is definitely the future – we can use it for so many things and one of the biggest is creating bio-plastics and other sustainable materials.
“We need a processing plant in Scotland but I am hopeful funding for this can be found in the next couple of years.”
