Hemp's industrial potential being hampered by red tape

ABC NEWS (Australia)

There's renewed interest in using hemp as a construction material. It's carbon neutral, local, and easy to use compared to traditional building products, but despite the benefits, the industry says it's strangled by stigma and red tape.

Transcript

00:00 Tasmania's all-women hemp processor is busy pulverising hemp stalk.

00:07 It's a very hot environment, it's quite dusty, it can be very noisy with all the equipment and machinery.

00:12 It's mixed with lime and water to make hempcrete, a natural alternative to concrete and plasterboard.

00:19 So hempcrete as a building material is highly insulative, it's non-combustible so it actually won't ignite,

00:24 so it's fantastic for bushfire areas, that type of thing.

00:27 It basically sequesters carbon through the growth cycle of the plant and the building's life cycle.

00:33 Local hempcrete will be used to fit out the interior of the University of Tasmania's

00:38 $131 million forestry and timber yard's redevelopment.

00:44 Demand for hemp as a viable substitute for construction material is growing,

00:50 as developers seek greener options for building materials.

00:54 And yet the industry here says restrictions and regulations are strangling its growth.

01:01 The industrial hemp industry is governed by a complicated mix of state-based regulations.

01:07 Some blame the stigma of illegal cannabis for legislative caution.

01:13 And I effectively am being treated as though I'm dealing with some sort of narcotic,

01:16 when in actual fact it's a crop like grain or barley or wheat.

01:20 The industry says recent amendments to Tasmania's legislation don't go far enough.

01:26 Tim Crow processes hemp seed for the food market. He could do so much more.

01:32 I think we've definitely missed an opportunity.

01:34 I think the rest of the world has the ability to utilise the whole of plant.

01:39 A multi-billion dollar market the industry says it's missing out on.

01:44 show on.

01:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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