Automotive companies across Europe are moving away from petroleum-based plastics entirely for the dashboards, paneling and other design touches in new models. The sheer number of parts molded from hemp plastics demonstrates its usability as a material.

Hemp plastics are a return to the innovations of the old days, in fact, the use of hemp on the automotive industry is not new and Henry Ford had cars called Hemp cars that apparently ran on hemp oil and used hemp plastics.

Durable rope, cloth, industrial building materials and more were all made from hemp. The word canvas stems from the word cannabis because hemp was the most common material used for canvas sails in the past. Up until the 1930’s, hemp was already in use in products such as a cellophane film, and a sort of compostable styrofoam.

With today’s consumption rates, it’s simply not feasible to keep pumping out conventional plastics, each with a lifespan of 500 years or more. Hemp plastics are quickly proving equally as diverse as regular plastics. Currently, hemp plastic is used to make speaker systems, guitar picks, 3D printer filaments, and thousands of other items.