Technical & Premium Hemp Fiber:

Proven compatibility for textiles and nonwoven systems:

Gold 65mm-115m Fiber, <6% Hurd

• Gold/Blonde/Tan Color

• Airlaid Nonwovens Systems

• Insulation, Geotextiles

Platinum

• 65mm-115mm Fiber, <3% Hurd

• Silver/Grey/Brown Color

• Carded Needlepunch Systems

• Biocomposites, Automotive panels

Refined

• 30mm-75mm Fiber, <0.25% Hurd

• Grey/Brown Color

• Finer Needlepunch, Coarse Spinning

• Acoustic Panels, Yarns/Denim/Canvas

Cottonized

• 25mm-75mm Fiber, <0.25% Hurd

• Natural off-white, tan/grey color

• Carded Spunlace, Spinning

• Wipes, Filtration, Textile Yarns

Cottonized + Bleached

• 25mm-75mm Fiber, <0.25% Hurd

• White color

• Carded Spunlace - Hygienics

• Feminine hygiene, diapers, medical

“A central part of this effort is our joint development agreement with Plantae Technologies,” says Lawson. “Plantae leads all the engagement with growers and biomass sourcing, while Zylotex concentrates on converting the raw feedstock into high-purity dissolving Zylotex pulp suitable for lyocell production. This division of expertise ensures that agricultural realities are aligned with processing requirements, allowing for a more consistent and scalable input stream.”

On the customer side, Zylotex is collaborating directly with brands and manufacturers during early prototyping and testing. By engaging in fiber development trials, Zylotex ensures that the regenerated hemp-based fibers can meet the specific performance and sustainability targets needed in textiles, nonwovens, and composites. This co-development model addresses technical hurdles while reducing adoption risk by giving customers confidence in both quality and supply chain reliability.

Student to CTO

“We formed Zylotex to commercialize the research outcomes from the University of Alberta, Canada, program, to transform Canadian-grown hemp into a consistent, high-purity feedstock for regenerated cellulosic fibers,” shares Lawson. “Ultimately, I am a PhD student in the Department of Human Ecology at the university, working under the supervision of Dr. Patricia Dolez, while also serving as the Chief Technology Officer and Founder of Zylotex.”

“Our current R&D focuses on developing pulping and pre-treatment strategies that can convert variable hemp stalks, often grown as oilseed crops, into dissolving pulp suitable for lyocell production,” she continues. “We have demonstrated that hemp can achieve more than 90 percent α-cellulose content with very low lignin and ash. This pulp quality is comparable to wood-based dissolving pulp and supports the viability of hemp as a substitute feedstock for regenerated cellulosics.”

Published work on solvent recovery and wastewater characterization for the NMMO-based lyocell process further validates the effort, underpinning the environmental and economic claims of closed-loop production. Modeled impacts show a reduction intensity of 12.8 tCO₂e per tonne of hemp-based lyocell fiber due to displacement of petroleum-based textiles and reduced water consumption, with cumulative reductions scaling significantly through 2050. At the end of life, the fibers are biodegradable, leaving no microplastic residues.

Developing the Lyocell Product

“Working alongside Plantae Technologies, we are advancing hemp-based dissolving pulp into lyocell fiber prototypes currently being tested in consumer textile and nonwoven applications. The work spans spans from baled hemp straw to regenerated fibres that can be spun, blended and converted into fabrics or absorbent materials. We are converting Canadian-grown hemp into high-purity dissolving pulp, while ensuring compatibility with the NMMO-based lyocell process. This pulp is then spun into trial fibers and evaluated for various properties with conventional fibers. These trials demonstrate that hemp-based Lyocell can be processed using existing infrastructure while delivering the same performance benchmarks as wood-based Lyocell.”

Key challenges included removing the higher lignin and ash content found in oilseed hemp cultivars, as well as dealing with variability in stalk quality. “Our pretreatment and pulping sequences are specifically designed to address these issues,” she notes, “producing a pulp that meets industry standards. Another obstacle was proving solvent recovery and closed- loop viability at lab scale, which we validated through targeted recovery experiments and wastewater analysis.”

Sustainable Change in Textiles and Nonwovens

Lawson believes that hemp represents one of the most promising pathways for real sustainable change in textiles and nonwovens. The industry is facing an urgent cellulose shortage as demand for cotton and manmade cellulosics continues to outpace supply. Hemp fills a gap by leveraging an agricultural crop that grows quickly, requires fewer inputs than cotton, and sequesters significant amounts of carbon during cultivation.

For change to be meaningful, however, sustainability must extend across the entire value chain. Hemp is not a plug-andplay solution. The team’s position is that the breakthrough will come from integrating hemp into regenerated cellulose platforms like lyocell, where pulping and pre-treatments can transform agricultural residues into a dissolving pulp that meets strict technical standards.

“We see hemp as a driver of holistic sustainability,” says Lawson. “By connecting growers, decorticators, processors, and end-users in a coordinated supply chain, hemp can reduce reliance on imports, create local manufacturing opportunities, and support circular economy models. In nonwovens, where performance, biodegradability, and lifecycle impact are crucial, hemp-based Lyocell is particularly well-positioned to displace synthetic inputs that contribute to microplastic pollution.

“In our view,” she notes, “hemp will not replace cotton or wood-based cellulosics outright. Instead, its role is to diversify and strengthen the industry's portfolio of sustainable fibers. With the right processing innovations and collaborative partnerships, hemp has the potential to shift textiles and nonwovens toward a lowercarbon, more resilient future.”

Canadian Supply Chain Booster

“We deliberately focus on Canadian oilseed and dual-purpose cultivars because that is what is most widely available here today. While these cultivars were not originally bred for textiles and contain higher lignin and ash than traditional European or Asian fiber hemp, they represent a realistic, scalable feedstock that farmers are already growing rather than waiting for ‘perfect’ fiber cultivars to be developed,” notes Lawson.

This approach builds on whole-plant utilization, creates value for material that would otherwise be treated as low-value residue, and keeps supply chains domestic. That is why the partnership model between Zylotex and Plantae is crucial in connecting the dots between agriculture, processing, and market demand.

“Often misunderstood, hemp is considered a coarse, rustic fiber," Lawson shares, "when in fact we can transform it into high-performance regenerated cellulosics with softness, strength, and versatility that matches any natural or synthetic fiber available today. The challenge isn’t whether hemp can work, but rather how we design the right processing strategies and supply chains to unlock its potential.”

Growing the U.S. Hemp Marketplace

As a seasoned expert in nonwovens and fibers and a consultant to the hygiene industry, Olaf Isele’s involvement with hemp fiber is extensive. He is now Founder/CEO of Metaxi Simbiosys. His work includes developing test methods and standards for evaluating hemp fiber quality, facilitating the development of specifications for various applications, development and production of hygiene products using hemp fibers, and ensuring quality control. He believes that recognized standards are crucial to develop trust in the hemp fiber supply chain, its end-users, and throughout society.

“My work has demonstrated that when we process hemp fiber the right way, it is suitable for us in even the most discerning textile and hygiene products applications,” says Isele. “The feminine care products company, Trace Femcare, has shown that hemp fiber is a viable fiber for use in even medical devices, like tampons, by successfully passing rigorous biocompatibility tests.” He was Product Development Director for the company.

His involvement in the launch of many products available to consumers today confirms his position. He has worked in product development for Trace Femcare on tampons and menstrual pads, Harper Hygienics wipes, analyzed the hemp-fiber clothing of Smith & Rogue apparel company and evaluated hemp fiber quality of several European processors, and other bast fiber projects.

“Using the European marketplace as a template, we can create supply chains,

The world’s first tampon is made from a 50/50 blend of 100% regenerative cotton and hemp. Inset: Hemp fibers (mix of individual fibers and fiber bundles) under a high-magnification optical microscope. Olaf Isele

Hemp is not a silver bullet. It varies by cultivar and environment, and the infrastructure for processing it is still in development. By connecting farmers, processors, and manufacturers into a coordinated ecosystem, it can turn what is currently agricultural residue into a premium fiber stream.

“Because we approach hemp with the right mix of science and collaboration,” she says, “Zylotex will redefine how the textile industry thinks about sustainability.” products and markets in North America, as well. In the creation of existing products, the entire supply chain – from farm to finished product – was targeted towards high-quality hemp fiber, encompassing its farming, harvesting, retting, processing, and ultimately refining. For our applications today, with standards and quality control in its early days still, it required hands-on attention and trial and error learning to achieve our success,” he says.

“While anachronistic, the re-birth of the hemp industry in the USA allows us to work from the farm to the finished product. Traceability, transparency, and sustainability for us go hand in hand,” he says.

Building a vibrant U.S.-based hemp textile marketplace requires considerable effort, including conducting more lifecycle assessments and exploring regenerative agriculture and climate-neutral processing technologies; however, the road ahead is clearly visible. “A favorite quote of mine from a client is, ‘Hemp is a multi-purpose crop that allows us to be proud of its ecological benefits, its thousands of years of history, and integrate it into modern science and industry for sustainable products with facts and stories that people can relate to and corroborate.’”

“On one hand, hemp has an almost magical trait to it,” he continues. “There are expert farmers, processors, and artisans who practice ancient traditions in creating textiles from hemp, and that is beautiful. On the other hand, to achieve the full potential of hemp sustainably to thrive in the future, we must bring it to a commodity scale. Then, industriallevel availability, as well as financial and economic systems worldwide, will seek to incorporate the benefits of hemp, where realistically, almost every product can benefit. However, that requires doing the hard work of fully understanding the properties of hemp and developing the necessary tools and test methods to establish it as a commodity with reliable quality and trust throughout industry and society.”

References

1 https://www.factmr.com/report/4504/ hemp-based-products-market

2, 3 https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/ industrial-hemp-market-102459

4, 5, 6 https://www.marketgrowthreports.com/ market-reports/hemp-fiber-market-113377