Industrial Hemp Creates A Circular Economy For Local Manufacturers
The global economy is made up of thousands of little micro-economies across the world. These micro-economies exist in towns and cities that are right down the street from you.
Each of these towns is independently successful, or not, because of the economies that support them. Although different types of taxes and permits bring revenue into these cities, states, and countries, the GDP of a given region is made up of sectors.
Many regions are successful because of tourism, hospitality, technology, and finance. But, these sectors are region-specific: not all areas of a given country cater to these types of industries.
There are certain sectors of the economy that are foundational to an economy, no matter where in the world it exists.
Manufacturing and farming are two of the sectors that exist in almost every region across the world because they are paramount to the baseline needs of society. These industries create the critical infrastructure that humans rely on every day. They also provide jobs to local residents.
One could argue that farming and manufacturing is the engine for local economies across the world. They import materials, and export goods that are used domestically and internationally. Without these two industries, there would be nothing around us.
As Americans, we tend to forget this. We drive to the store to pick up goods, but rarely think about how those goods were made. The reality is, the car you used, the goods you bought, and everything you saw on your way to and from the store was manufactured by a company.
These companies rely on raw material supply chains to produce the goods they sell to the world. Plastic, metal, rubber, wood, cement, and ceramic are all examples of materials that manufacturing and farming companies may procure to make their products.
Frequently, these raw materials are mined or synthetic goods that are procured from outside of the region that a good is being manufactured in. This adds costs to the manufacturer and prevents them from using materials that are native to the city or region where they reside.
This begs the question, how can we create circular economies where local manufacturers can use materials that are locally sourced?
The answer is simple: industrial hemp supply chains.
Industrial hemp supply chains all start with local farmers. People who have been farming corn, wheat, and soy for decades can now add industrial hemp into their crop rotation. Industrial hemp remediates soil, removes CO2 from the atmosphere, and can be used as a cover crop.
Industrial hemp is known to be used for 25,000+ things. It’s one of the most versatile crops on the planet, and over the next decade, we will see millions of acres pop up in countries across the globe. The better question is, what applications are real and add value in today’s market?
The Heartland team is building its industrial hemp supply chain specifically to create hemp additives, solving one of the largest problems in the plastic industry. These additives can be used to enhance the performance and reduce the carbon footprint of all the raw materials we mentioned that are being procured by manufacturers.
The first region of America that Heartland is focused on building an industrial hemp supply chain is Michigan. Michigan is the #1 state for advanced manufacturing in America. There are more engineers here than anywhere else in America. This was part of the reason that our team decided to build the infrastructure necessary to grow, process, and distribute hemp fibers.
Our model is to empower local farming to support local manufacturing.
- The farmers down the street are farming products that become the raw materials used by local manufacturers.
- Local manufacturers are using materials that were grown and processed down the street.
This creates a closed-loop circular economy that benefits all the local residents.
- Manufacturers are using materials that reduce their carbon footprint.
- Manufacturers are creating products that are stronger, lighter, and cheaper than the products they were previously manufacturing.
- Instead of exporting materials: farmers are distributing their products to manufacturers in their local community.
- Farmers are adding a crop into their rotation that remediates toxic materials from their soil.
- Farmers are growing a carbon-negative material (meaning that 1 pound of hemp is sequestering more than 1 pound of CO2).
- Manufacturers are removing toxic materials from their supply chains.
These are just a few of the benefits a community will see from creating a circular economy with an industrial hemp supply chain.
At scale, Heartland will replicate these supply chains much like other notable businesses replicate their business models. Our team will be building industrial hemp supply chains domestically and internationally to help manufacturers create stronger, lighter, cheaper, and more sustainable products.
As the fifth industrial revolution starts to take shape, companies are starting to rethink their sustainability initiatives.
Most companies have aggressive targets to reduce their carbon footprint by 2030. In accordance with the Paris Climate Accord, most companies have a mandate to become net-zero carbon by 2050.
As this transition into Industry 5.0 starts to take place, Heartland will be sitting at the base of the manufacturing supply chain to provide hemp additives to reduce the usage of toxic materials.
The future of our planet takes sustainability into account. It is our responsibility to make sure that manufacturers have access to bio-based materials to help them develop new innovations. It’s with these new materials that manufacturers can help lead us toward a sustainable future.
Join us in making a world out of hemp.
The Whitehouse announces Industry 5.0: biomanufacturing
Today, the Whitehouse announced a major initiative to drive local farming supporting local manufacturing via biomanufacturing.