Fighting COVID-19 with hemp

Concern is growing over the impact of disposable protective equipment during the pandemic, with an estimated 194 billion single-use face masks and gloves used globally every month worldwide, according to one report.

But a company in France has come up with a unique solution to the issue of plastic waste and has started to produce face masks made of hemp.

Frédéric Roure, the founding president of Géochanvre, told Reuters news agency that the company’s masks were completely compostable, while the elastic band is recyclable.

“Put the hemp in the ground [and] three months, six months later, there is nothing left. It is food for the earthworms,” he said.

Around 1.5 million of the masks, which cost €1 (£0.92; $1.19) each, have been sold worldwide, according to the news agency.

Last month US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell urged Americans to wear face masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus—and he wanted those coverings to be made of hemp.

During an event at the Kentucky-based hemp company Ecofibre, McConnell talked about the challenges the burgeoning market for the newly legal crop has faced, especially amid the pandemic, but he said it represented a viable commodity that was bolstering the economy.

Ecofibre, which is producing hemp face masks, is an example of how businesses are innovating since the crop’s federal legalization under the 2018 Farm Bill, the majority leader said.

“We’re gonna need a massive number of doses [of a vaccine for COVID-19]—not just for our country but for the entire world. The coronavirus is not gone. And in the meantime, I recommend a hemp mask as one of the best,” he said. (BBC)