Zeoform, a New Plastic That Turns Hemp into Almost Anything

Lately, plastic has become an environmental problem, not only because the fossil fuels used to create it are becoming rarer, but also because of the chemical and toxic products involved in the process that have an impact on the environment. Many interested parties are working with the aim of improving this situation and finding other more natural options.

One of them is Zeoform, an ecological and promising solution that could become the alternative that we have been waiting for. The composite material can be created using vegetable fibre with a high cellulose and water content. Its creators use hemp, although linen, straw, paper, and recycled textiles are also used.

As Alf Wheeler, the head of the Australian company that produces the product, explains, Zeofrom is a very long-lasting and resistant material. Also, it can be coated with other elements and moulded into almost any shape and turned into furniture, vehicles, jewellery and even musical instruments.

In addition to being a more natural option than plastic, it is also designed to replace other scarce products such as woods or cotton, whereas hemp grows more easily and quicker. Its creators also believe that they could help to reduce the unnecessary chopping down of trees that “seriously affects the natural habitats of animals, reduces the nutrients in the soil”, and creates an unsustainable situation as it normally takes 100 years for a forest to grow back.

On the other hand, Wheeler believes that this could be an opportunity for areas that have traditionally produced paper and which have been forced to close their factories. Those unemployed in such cases have sufficient knowledge to work with cellulose and could now specialise in hemp. He also believes that the use of cellulose fibres, such as those obtained from hemp, will revolutionise the manufacturing industry, and will help the planet to recover the balance that it is losing as a result of the overexploitation of resources and pollution.