DETROIT, Mich.– Heartland and Ravago Americas have executed a joint development agreement to create the next generation of plastic resins. This collaboration aims to drive material innovation for companies that buy large volumes of plastic. Heartland’s hemp additives will help these manufacturers reduce the cost, weight, and carbon footprint of the raw materials they rely on every day.
Ravago is one of the world’s largest plastic recyclers, compounders, and distributors. Ravago and its subsidiaries service over 50,000 customers globally across 325 facilities in 55 countries. Annually, they supply over 6.6 million MT of polymer and rubber. Heartland is building America’s first reliable industrial hemp supply chain to provide additives for manufacturers that use plastics.
By leveraging carbon-negative and renewable plastic additives like industrial hemp, Ravago can offer composite products that are stronger, lighter, cheaper, and more sustainable. Not only will these plastics have enhanced thermal and acoustic properties, but Heartland’s hemp additives help prolong the life of Ravago’s materials that use recycled content.
Heartland’s engineered hemp additives reduce the carbon footprint of virgin plastics by as much as 44%. Heartland is also focused on verifying the impact of hemp-filled recycled plastics versus traditional virgin plastics that are typically compounded with mineral fillers like talc and calcium carbonate.
Heartland has worked alongside Ravago to engineer their hemp materials as renewable additives for plastics. Ravago’s R&D team has guided Heartland in engineering products that do not require additional retooling costs for plastic compounders and molders.
After the 2022 farming cycle, Heartland estimates that they will be able to process over 100,000,000 pounds of hemp additives that will be available for plastic compounding. Ravago and Heartland will continue to research and develop products to serve automotive, packaging, building materials, and other markets.
