The Hemp European Hub at the forefront of plant fiber development
The future Hemp European Hub was present at the bioeconomy round table organized by the Grand Est Region in Châlons-en-Champagne. Benoit Savourat, President of La Chanvrière, presented the new industrial facilities of Europe’s largest hemp-growing cooperative, as well as the territorial hemp biorefinery project, unique in France and Europe.
The meeting brought together all players in the regional bioeconomy. The Hemp European Hub has positioned itself as a key link in the structuring of a complete regional value chain for the valorization of plant fibers.
Planned for 2023 and supported by Troyes Champagne Métropole, the Grand Est region and the European Union, what is the ambition of this local biorefinery project based on hemp resources?
Quite simply, to bring together all the players from the field to the finished product within an innovative structure, to be located in a business park dedicated to the bioeconomy, with a circular economy approach.
The Hemp European Hub will also be in the spotlight at the Rencontres Francophones de l’Ecologie Industrielle et Territoriale, to be held in Troyes on October 6 and 7, 2020.
La Chanvrière: the industrial powerhouse of hemp in Eastern France
La Chanvrière was created in 1973, thanks to the determination of a hundred or so farmers in the Aube region to create a hemp processing facility to meet demand from the paper industry. Today, its 440 growers cultivate 9,600 ha of France’s 17,000 ha. This represents ½ of France’s surface area and ¼ of Europe’s. 78% of sales are exported, to 24 countries, with sales of €24 million. La Chanvrière’s latest investment, worth €25 million, is a new defibration plant in the heart of the Trojan conurbation. By 2021, this will enable the company to double its straw processing capacity to 100,000 tons of hemp per year.
