Waste generated by Hemp extraction

I am curious to learn what happens to all the waste by products created by hemp extraction.

Extracted biomass generally goes to the trash or to make livestock feed. The distillation waste is meant to be disposed of properly by mixing it with something to make it unrecognizable. I use cat litter.

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I’ve considered mixing it with aggregate and using it to patch potholes. :laughing:

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I had a batch of tolling oil blow a fuse on my Pope once, the waste was so thick I had to heat gun the bottom of the still body to keep it flowing. At room temperature it was basically plastic. I wondered if it would make good 3D printer material.

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Yeah I’ve seen some of that before too. Bad crude. It was because of that incident that I now always do a small test batch before accepting the tolling job. I’ve had to turn a couple away since then. I’m not going to waste my time or the customer’s money on crude that produces such a low yield and causes us unnecessary effort to clean up afterwards. It pays to partner with good extractors.

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Absolutely true, this was my first bad experience in that regard, and I absolutely adopted that same exact policy.

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Thank you @ExTek90 and @nomadgt for responding.

I am trying to envision what happens to million upon million pounds of hemp waste. There is only so much converted to feed for live stock. Maybe, someone will develop an innovative process to reuse hemp waste.

Large scale waste from distillation is another big concerns.

Time to do more research on hemp waste management

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I was reading information from California relating to Cannabis waste management.

3. I would like some general information on how to dispose of cannabis waste that is not composted onsite.

Cannabis waste is considered organic waste if it is not combined or contains any hazardous or toxic material. The law considers organic waste a type of solid waste that can be composted on-site by licensees of CalCannabis and the Bureau in accordance with Title 14.

For cannabis waste not composted on-site, the cannabis regulations include requirements about who may haul cannabis waste and to what type of solid waste facility they may take it. See answer to question one for links to the waste management sections for each license type.

We spread hours back on the farmland

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What about terpene waste? That stuff is highly corrosive

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I don’t know it’s going to be a mess to figure out we just putting in 50 gallon drums if we’re still running in 12 months it’s going to be a big problem that’s going to have to be addressed

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There are companies that buy spent biomass for like $0.25/lb or something pretty low but not insignificant for bigger companies.

They then make things like textiles and hempcrete I believe. I think biodegradable plastics substitutes are even possible or in the works, I’ve heard.

I’d expect to see a large influx in hemp based products, or products that have hemp in them, across the board in the near future with all the hemp being grown right now.

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Not exactly environmentally friendly, but what about a controlled burn when it starts to pile up? Unless I’m totally off point, in which case ignore me.

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If you left that drum outside with the lid off the residual solvents will just evaporate. The rest should be all organic matter not hazardous waste.

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Hope it’s in a flammable drum, and grounded for safety

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Mix it with cat litter and spread it out in the sun separated from the earth. Terpenes are aromatic and will evaporate.

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What about the ones that come across at 150 c?

Stays neutralized in the litter.

Edit: This is how literally every grocery warehouse deals with any kind of oil spill.

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I know a lab in Northern CA who burns their spent biomass to power their falling film.

They got tired of disposing of it so they started using it as a fuel source

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Is that process stinky?

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