Material Snapshot

Hemp

Material Scenario
Undyed woven hemp textile. Hemp is a cellulosic bast fiber separated from the stems of the annual
plant Cannabis sativa. Farm level processes for hemp begin with planting seed in the field, followed by
cultivation, harvesting, retting/degumming, and finally decortication to obtain raw fiber. Processing of
the fiber starts with hackling and scutching to prepare the fiber for creating sliver, then roving, which
may be steam treated and/or bleached, then spun into yarn and woven into fabric. Data are generic.

Common Uses In Apparel And Footwear

Hemp is a relatively coarse fiber that is used alone or in blends mostly for woven textiles. It is used in
jeans, shirts, uppers for shoes, hats, and accessories (Kadolph, 2011, p. 75).

Alternative Textiles That May Be Substituted For Material

Cotton Jute Linen Lyocell Rayon TENCEL

Life Cycle Description

Functional Unit
1 kilogram of woven fabric

System Boundary
Cradle to undyed fabric. The data presented within include all steps required to turn the raw material
or initial stock into woven fabric, including transportation and energy inputs. Capital equipment, space
conditioning, support personnel requirements, and miscellaneous materials comprising <1% by weight
of net process inputs are excluded.

Allocation
Economic approach. Hemp provides co-products and by-products that may be used in textiles,
construction, biopolymers, pulp applications as well as other industries (Haufe, 2011, p. 5). Long fibers
are the primary high value product; co-products include short fibers, shive, and plant residues that
usually have economic value (Franck, 2005, p. 184).

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Unit Process Descriptions

Production (Flax Cultivation And Fiber Separation)
Hemp is a cellulosic bast fiber that is found in the stems of the annual plant Cannabis sativa. Hemp is
grown in about 30 countries in Europe, Asia and the western hemisphere; major producing countries
include China, France, the UK, and Romania. In 2011, about 200,000 acres were cultivated with global
production over the last two decades varying between 200 and 500 million lbs annually (Johnson
2015, pp. 9-10). U.S. cultivation requires a permit from the U.S. Drug Enforcement, which are rarely
issued (Johnson, 2015, pp. 13-14). Hemp is grown from many varieties, often named after their country
of origin.

Figure 1. Global Production Of Hemp Fiber And Seed

Source: Johnson, 2015, p. 10

Production of hemp is similar to flax where seed is planted, relatively few inputs are required, the
mature plant is cut or pulled out of the soil for retting, and the retted stalks processed to remove
apparel grade fibers within the stalk (Franck, 2005, p. 181). Hemp requires soils that are moist and well
drained (Haufe, 2011, p. 5). Hemp grows to 2-3 m or more in height and produces a high amount of
biomass (over 50 metric tons/ha) and fiber (5-6% of the biomass) (Pari, et al., 2015, p. 91).
Hemp crops require about 100 days of growth after planting (Franck, 2005, p. 179). Seeds are planted
at a density of 60-80 kg/ha (Franck, 2005, p. 180). Fertilizer is applied to improve yields, though
adding more than 100 kg/ha of nitrogen can result in lower fiber quality (Franck, 2005, p. 181). Due to
the density of growth and general resistance to pests, herbicides and insecticides are rarely used with
hemp, although seed may be treated to minimize fungi disease from seed and soil (USDA, 2000, p 4).
Hemp yields vary due to variety, weather, and processing; one study of three different retting methods
for Hungarian hemp averaged 189 kg yarn fiber/ha (van der Werf, 2008, p. 3).
Because the textile fibers are locked in the stalk (similar to flax), /or degumming is required to
separate the usable fibers from the woody portions of the stalk. Retting breaks the chemical bonds of
the pectin that surrounds the fibers and binds them within the stalk. All the pectin must be removed
to produce high quality fiber (Kozlowski, 2012, p. 65). Traditionally it is a microbial process either by
laying down cut or pulled hemp stems in the field to be exposed to moisture, sun and soil (essentially,
a composting process). The resulting fiber may vary in quality due to fluctuating conditions. Water
retting is a more controllable process that produces more consistent quality fiber, but requires
more labor and, potentially, cost. Water retting can occur in tanks, a portion of a river, or a pond
(USDA, 2000, p. 5). The use of engineered enzymes to aid in retting can result in higher quality fiber
(Kadolph, 2011, p. 74). Chemical removal of pectin (degumming) has been tried, but is not widely used.

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Retted stalks are dried, bundled and transported to nearby processing facilities for mechanical
separation of the fiber from the woody portions. The bundled stems are sent through rollers to break
the woody parts into small pieces (hurds), some of which separate out, and are then put through a
scutching process that beats the remaining bundles to separate the remaining hurds and fibers by
length and then further separates short fibers (tow) from the long fibers (line). An alternative process
uses a single decorticating machine to separate hurds and fiber (USDA, 2000, p. 5). About 25% of the
unretted hemp straw is hemp fiber (Franck, 2005, p. 184), comprised of 10-13% line and tow making
the remainder, although ideal processing produces half line and half tow fiber (Franck, 2005, p. 187).
Figure 2. Hemp Textile Fiber Production Flowchart And Yields

Hemp Stalks from Growers (1,000 kg)

Retting/ Degumming (900 kg)
Scutching
Hurds (610 kg)

Loss (70 kg)

Scutched Hemp (100 kg)

Scutched Tow (120 kg)

Hackling
Long Fiber (38 kg)

Short Fiber (56 kg)

Spinning

Spinning
Yarn (37 kg)

Yarn (34 kg)

Weaving
Fabric (29.7 kg)

Spinning
Yarn (73.7 kg)

Twisting/ Polishing

Twisting/ Polishing

Twisting/ Polishing

Twine (33.3 kg)

Twine (33.3 kg)

Twine (69.3 kg)

Source: Franck, 2005, p. 184

To prepare for spinning, the long fibers are put into parallel bundles called "hands" of the same length
and thickness (Franck, 2005, p. 189). Prior to hackling, the fibers are standardized to lengths that
will fit on the machinery, baled, and left for 3-10 days in high humidity. A hackling machine makes
the fibers parallel and splits off any short fibers and remaining hurds in a process similar to combing
cotton or wool. The resulting sliver is drawn, doubled and twisted to produce a rove of hemp fiber.
Combining slivers during the drawing process improves uniformity (Franck, 2005, p. 191). Bleaching
with peroxide or an alkali treatment of the roving may be done to improve fineness and strength of
yarns (Turunen and van der Werf, 2006, p. 20).

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Prior to spinning, hemp fibers may also be treated with steam under pressure (steam explosion)
to produce a shorter fiber suitable for blending and spinning using cotton methods (Stextile, n.d.
Regional hemp textile production chain). The Crailar enzyme process, which is currently focused on
flax, can also be used with hemp to produce fibers with properties similar to cotton that can be spun
using cotton methods (National Advanced Technologies, n.d.).

Spinning
Hemp can be both dry-spun and wet spun, though wet-spinning may be becoming less common
(Franck, 2005, p. 191). Most hemp yarns are produced for weaving and are composed of 100% hemp,
with fiber fineness of 285-200 tex. After spinning, thin sections and knots are removed, yarn breaks
are knotted by hand, and the yarn is wound on cone winders (Franck, 2005, p. 192). This process
is labor intensive as there are not many modern machines involved. The yarn is then wound and
prepared for weaving or knitting. Paraffin wax is added if the yarn will be knitted (Franck, 2005,
p. 126). Wet ring spinning produces higher quality yarns than open end rotor and vortex spinning
methods; wet spun yarns must be dried after spinning and before winding (Turunen and van der Werf,
2006, p. 30).

Textile Construction
As with other bast fibers, hemp has relatively low elasticity (high elastic modulus) compared to
synthetics and non-bast natural origin fibers (Mogahzy, 2009, p. 219, Thakur, n.d., Section 11.6.1
Physical Properties). This attribute leads to 100% hemp yarns woven as plain or twill fabrics.
Blended hemp yarns offer the opportunity for a wider variety of constructions and qualities to achieve
functional performance such as a softer hand or better drape.

Process Inputs
Energy
Hemp cultivation requires relatively low amounts of energy associated with small fertiliser
inputs and farm machinery estimated at 5 MJ/kg (Haufe, 2011, p. 6) to approximately
20 MJ/kg (Turunun and van der Werf, 2006, p. 41); organic production of hemp lowers
cultivation energy substantially (Cherrett, 2005, p. 13). Energy use in processing harvested
fiber (retting, scutching, drying, etc.) to prepare fiber for spinning is highly variable
depending on the method of retting, scutching, drying, etc.) ranging from 10-120 MJ/kg
yarn (Turunun and van der Werf, 2006, p. 41). Yarn spinning processes, which are highly
dependent on tex, are as much as 230 MJ/kg yarn (Turunun and van der Werf, 2006, p. 41).
Other calculations for fiber process and yarn spinning are much lower at approximately 1220 MJ/kg yarn (Figure 2). Estimates of cradle to gate energy use for one kilogram of yarn
are also highly variable; in one study of 6 hemp scenarios, the average was about 25 MJ/
kg yarn (Cherrett, 2005, p. 13). In another study of 3 hemp scenarios, the average cradle to
gate energy use is 293 MJ/kg yarn.
Data on weaving hemp was not identified. Hemp, similar to linen, is woven on rapier or
projectile looms (Hann, 2005, p. 24). Weaving a 70 dtex yarn requires 229 MJ/kg textile;
higher dtex requires substantially less energya 300 dtex yarn is 53.4 MJ/kg textile (van
der Velden, 2014, p. 341). Cradle to gate undyed woven textile is 346 MJ/kg woven textile
(300 dtex) to 522 MJ/kg woven textile (70 dtex) (Appendix Table B).

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Water
Hemp requires 500-700 millimeters of water per crop; if cultivated in regions with that
level of rainfall during the growing season, additional irrigation is not necessary (Cherrett,
2005, p. 19). Water consumption for retting is typically low, even when retted in tanks and
rivers as the water typically remains in the same watershed1. Water use may increase if
roving is bleached and if steam explosion is used in processing. Cradle to yarn estimates
for water consumption for the different hemp growing scenarios range from 199 L/kg yarn
to 763 L/kg yarn with an average 394 L/kg yarn (Turunen and van der Werf, 2006, p. 38).
Weaving process water use is minimal; water consumption in the embodied energy used
for weaving is estimated at 5 L/kg woven textile (70 dtex) to 1.1 L/kg woven textile (300
dtex) (Appendix Table A). Water consumption for cradle to gate undyed woven textile is
estimated to range from 395 L/kg woven textile (300 dtex) to 399 L/kg woven textile (70
dtex) (Appendix Table B).

Chemical
Fungicide is often used on hemp seeds prior to planting (Turunen and van der Werf,
2006, p. 32). Fertilizers are applied to the hemp crops to promote growth and higher
yields. Estimates of fertilizer intensity suggest 80-100 kg/ha of nitrogen, 0-50 kg/ha of
phosphorus, and 50-200 kg/ha of potassium (Franck, 2005, p. 181). Farmyard manure
and stable litter are considered preferable to chemical fertilizers, if available. Lime may
be applied periodically, although not annually (Turunen and van der Werf, 2006, p. 16).
Hemp grows so quickly that weed control is usually unnecessary eliminating herbicide use
(Kadolph, 2011, p. 75). Pesticides are generally not used during crop production (Turunen
and van der Werf, 2006, p. 16).
In some regions, BabyHemp is grown in a manner that results in stems that are of similar
length as flax, facilitating the use of flax machinery. Plant growth is terminated through the
use of glyphosate, an herbicide (Turunen and van der Werf, 2006, p. 18).

Physical
Hemp seed is required for sowing of the crop; an estimated 55 kg seeds/ha are required
(Turunen and van der Werf, 2006, p. 16), although BabyHemp is grown at a higher density
(100 kg seeds/ha) (Turunen and van der Werf, 2006, p. 18).

Land-use Intensity
With the same land under cultivation, hemp produces 250% more fiber than cotton and
600% more than flax (Kadolph, 2011, p. 75). Quantities of scutched fiber per hectare range
from 293 kg to 658 kg depending on the growing scenario with an average of 511 kg
scutched fiber/ha. The average yarn production/ha for the three hemp growing scenarios
is estimated to be 189 kg hemp yarn/ha (Appendix Table B).

Process Outputs
Co-products & By-products
Production of hemp fibers for apparel use produces a number of co-products including
short fibers (scutching tow) and hurds (also known as shives) that have economic value.
Other by-products are plant residues and fiber dust that may be used as fuel for heating
factories.

1 Water consumption is defined by water (other than precipitation) that is used in a process, then removed from the
watershed from which it was taken. Water that is used and returned to the watershed is not counted as consumption.
See PE International, 2014 for a full explanation.

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Table 1. Hemp Co-Products And By-Products
Co-Products, By-products and
Waste

Yield
(% of Input Mass)

Economic Value
(/ kg)

Scutched long fiber

1.75

Scutching tow

23

0.75

Hurds (shives)

40

0.2

Coarse plant residues and fiber dust

28

Source: Turunen and van der Werf, 2006, p. 24

Solid Waste
Literature data on solid waste generation associated with the hemp life cycle was not
identified. As noted above, approximately 28% of retted hemp stalk ends up as waste
that has no economic value (which may be burned as fuel), resulting in an estimated 7.9 kg
waste/kg woven hemp (Appendix Table C); adding the waste associated with energy use in
weaving results in total cradle to gate undyed woven textile between 8.1 (dtex 300) and 8.8
(dtex 70) kg waste/kg woven textile (Appendix Table B).

Hazardous Waste/Toxicity
Residual fertilizers may end up as hazardous waste; while pesticides are not used in
traditional hemp production, as much as 4 kg of active pesticide ingredients are used per
hectare to grow BabyHemp equivalent to 0.003 kg/kg yarn (van der Werf and Turunen,
2008, pp. 7-8).

Wastewater
Wastewater contamination is due primarily to crop production and secondarily to retting
(van der Werf and Turunen, 2008, pp. 3-4). Fertilizer use results in nitrate run-off and
leaching into aquifers. Water retting of hemp can result depletion of oxygen due to the
high organic matter that accumulates and potential dead zones if retting occurs in a river
rather than tanks or artificial ponds.

Emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions associated with hemp cultivation are relatively small compared
to the emissions from yarn production. Fiber processing may have minimal emissions
unless fiber drying is a required process. Total cradle to yarn emissions vary between
13.5 kg CO2eq and 18.1 kg CO2eq per kg yarn for three growing and fiber processing
scenarios with an average of 15.4 kg CO2eq per kg yarn (Turunen and van der Werf, 2006,
p. 38). Weaving is estimated to emit between 2.5 (300 dtex) and 10.7 (70 dtex) kg CO2eq/
kg woven textile (van der Velden, 2014, p. 351). Total cradle to gate unwoven textile GHG
emissions range from 17.9 (300 dtex) to 26.1 (70 dtex) kg CO2eq/kg woven textile (Appendix
Table B).

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Table 2. Inputs To And Emissions From Production Of 1 Kg Process Output
One Kg Hemp Textile
Fiber Properties

70 dtex

300 dtex

Energy (MJ)

522

346

Water (L)

399

395

Waste (kg)

8.8

8.1

GHG Emissions (kg CO2 eq)

26.1

17.9

Note: See Appendix Tables A, B and C

Table 3. Mechanical Attributes Of Hemp

Linear Density (g/cm3) i

1.4 - 1.5

Tenacity (g/d)

3.0 - 7.0

ii

Tensile Strength (MPa)

Youngs Modulus (GPa)
Water Retention (%)
Tex

580 - 1,110

i
i

ii

iii

Breaking Elongation (%) i

3 - 90
8
14.9 unretted
7.4 retted
1.3 - 4.7

References
i Munder, et al., 2005, p.135
ii Franck, 2005, p. 6, p. 10
iii Batra, 2007, p. 498

Performance And Processing

Functional Attributes And Performance
Very strong
Resistant to UV light and mold
Good absorbency

Mechanical Attributes
Hemp fibers are between 3-15 feet, depending on the size of the plant, and may require shortening
for processing (Kadolph, 2011, p. 74). Hemp is very similar to flax in many attributes, though it is less
flexible and coarser.

Processing Characteristics
Outer fiber bundles of hemp tend to be longer and coarser than inner fibers, and the inner bundles
tend to be finer and more flexible. Hemp has low elongation, but slightly higher than flax, at 2-3%, but
with a higher breaking strength (Franck, 2005, p. 181). Longer bundles also occur on the outside of the
stem, which require less twist during spinning. The high flexibility of the fiber may cause issues while
spinning, though this can be improved by blending with other fibers (Franck, 2005, p. 182). Hemp is
hygroscopic and regains moisture well.
Hemp bundles are measured by physical characteristics such as length, weight, breaking strength,
drape, and stiffness (Franck, 2005, p. 183).

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Aesthetics
Hemp is primarily cellulose and is non-allergenic. Hemp has similar appearances and performance to
flax, and is occasionally indistinguishable. It is often coarser and stiffer, and may present a rougher
fabric (Kadolph, 2011, p. 74). Hemp may be a variety of natural colors: creamy white, brown, gray,
nearly black, or green (Kadolph, 2011, p. 74). Italian hemp is particularly notable for being soft and
silky with a pale gray color (Batra, 2007, p. 471).

Potential Social And Ethical Concerns

Social and ethical concerns for hemp textiles include potential exposures to water contaminated with
nitrates used in farming (Malaj, 2014, p. 9549) and exposure to dust and short fibers in subsequent
processing (Franck, 2005, p. 198). The amount of dust released during hemp processing is much
higher than for other natural fibers due to the structure of the plant itself. Factories for hemp
processing may be very loud and cause auditory harm to workers. Finally, hemp processing equipment
may be old and hazardous with many moving parts and few barriers for worker protection (Franck,
2005, p. 199).
Hemp is considered generally to be environmentally beneficial, due to its biodegradability and ability
to be used as a regenerative rotational crop (Franck, 2005, p. 198). It can absorb heavy metals from
soils, and usually does not require the use of pesticides and only potentially low levels of fertilisers.

Availability Of Material
Hemp is not commonly produced due to the ready availability of substitute fibers, as well as the
restrictions placed by some governments on the growing of all Cannabis sativa plants (Kadolph, 2011,
p. 75). The variety grown to produce hemp has extremely low amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol, and
efforts are underway to create regulatory exemptions for fiber crops. Processing technologies for
hemp are evolving slowly partially due to technological constraints as well as relatively low global
demand, resulting in high costs and low availability (Cherrett, 2005, p. 6).

Availability Of Certified Materials

Although apparel quality hemp is readily available in Europe and Asia and certified organic hemp
seed is available, certified organic hemp fiber is rare (Shishoo, 2015, p. 26). Rawganique (http://store.
rawganique.com/organic-fabrics-hemp-linen-organic-cotton-s/119.htm) offers fabrics that they label as
organic hemp from Europe (Romania), but do not specify that it is certified. Other sources suggest that
organic hemp is available, but not certified (http://www.hempbasics.com/shop/certified-organic).

Cost Of Textile
Apparel quality hemp is considered a specialty material with a limited market due to production costs
that are 5-10 times higher than those for commodity cotton or synthetic alternatives (Haufe, 2011, p.
12). Hemp is competitively priced compared to other specialty fibers (Thakur, 2013, p. 177-178). Hemp
Traders lists the following Factory Direct fiber prices (Hemp Traders, n.d., Wholesale Price List 2016):
Hemp fabric of 150cm width was $6.15 - $10.75 per meter (converted from GBP to USD) (Kozlowski,
2012, p. 325) in 2010-2011.

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Figure 3. Hemp Traders Wholesale Price List 2016
Description

Sample/
Retail ($)

20 kg +
25% Off ($)

50 kg +
50% Off ($)

Factory
Direct ($)

100% Hemp Long Fiber

21.32

15.99

10.66

7.56

100% Hemp Short Fiber

25.73

19.30

12.87

9.45

100% Hemp De-gummed Fiber

26.28

19.71

13.14

11.26

100% Hemp Sliver

36.30

27.23

18.15

13.16

Questions To Ask When Sourcing This Material

Q: Where was this hemp grown, processed, and woven?
Q: What pesticides and fertilizers, if any, were used for cultivation (seed through harvest)?
Q: How was the hemp retted? If tank retting was used, was the wastewater treated?
Q: Were long fibers separated from the stalk mechanically or with chemicals?
Q: Was the separated fiber dried before further processing?
Q: Was steam explosion used?
Q: Were the fibers wet or dry spun?

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Figure 4. System Diagram Of Hemp Fiber Production

Transportation

Possible Chemicals
Possible Water
Enzymes
Chemicals

Seed Hemp

Fuel-related Emissions

Cultivation

Fuel-related Emissions
Solid Waste

Retting

Fuel-related Emissions
Solid Waste

Transportation

Energy

Scutching

By-products
Solid Waste

Hackling

By-products
Solid Waste

Possible Water For

Steam Explosion

Spinning

Greenhouse
Gas Emissions
to Water

Roving

By-products (e.g. linters)

Solid Waste

Possible Water and

Chemicals for Bleaching

Weaving

By-products (e.g.
particulate matter)
Solid Waste

1 kg Undyed Textile

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Appendix
Calculations For Hemp Fabric
Table A. Water And Waste Calculations For Hemp
Weaving (70 dtex) energy i

MJ/kg

229

MJ/kg

53.4

L/MJ

0.021

Weaving (70 dtex) water calculation

L/kg

4.8

Weaving (300 dtex) water calculation

L/kg

1.1

Electricity production waste use

kg/MJ

0.0

Weaving (70 dtex) waste calculation

kg/kg

0.9

Weaving (300 dtex) waste calculation

kg/kg

0.2

Weaving (70 dtex) CO2 eq i

kg CO2 eq/kg

10.7

Weaving (300 dtex) CO2 eq i

kg CO2 eq/kg

2.5

Weaving (300 dtex) energy

Electricity production water use

ii

ii

References
i van der Velden, 2014, p. 351
ii Plastics Europe, 2005, pp. 7, 9

Table B. Cradle To Gate Woven Textile Calculations For Hemp

Unit

Water retting

Bio retting

Baby
Hemp

Avg. of
Scenarios

Weaving
70 dtex ii

Weaving
300 dtex ii

Cradle to
Gate 70
dtex iii

Cradle to
Gate 300
dtex ii

Energy

MJ

255 i

358 i

265 i

293

229 ii

53.4 ii

522

346

Water

199

221

763

394

Waste

kg

7.9

7.9

CO2

kg CO2eq

13.5

iii
i

18.1

14.6

15.4

0.9

iv

10.7

ii

399

395

0.2

iv

8.8

8.1

2.5

ii

26.1

17.9

References
i Turunen and van der Werf, 2006, p. 38
ii van der Velden, 2014, p. 351
iii Appendix Table C
iv Appendix Table A

Table C. Waste Calculations For Hemp

Retted stalk i
Long fiber yarn

Woven long fiber fabric

Waste plant residues and fiber dust

ii

Ratio waste to textile (kg waste/kg

woven textile)

Water - retting

Bio - retting

Baby Hemp

Avg. of Scenarios

6,480

1,000

3,250

3,577

236

213

119

189

229

207

115

184

28%

28%

28%

7.9

1.4

7.9

5.7

References
i Turunen and van der Werf, 2006, Appendix H-1
ii Turunen and van der Werf, 2006, p. 24

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