As the fashion industry continues its drive for more sustainable options, industrial hemp pioneer Panda Biotech and scientific traceability company Oritain announced a partnership to develop fully traceable hemp fiber.
Under the agreement, Panda Biotech will process premium, textile-grade, cottonized natural hemp fiber for industrial and consumer products. Its first facility in the Texas city of Wichita Falls will be operational in mid-2022.
Hemp is a versatile material that is less energy intensive than current fibers used and completely biodegradable. But, as with any sustainable material, the benefits can often be undermined by false claims of where and how the industrial hemp was grown, farmed and processed.
“Companies like Panda Biotech are working hard to deliver viable, green alternatives to synthetics for the textile industry and we’re incredibly proud to not only help protect their work but to underpin it with scientific trust and integrity,” Oritain CEO Grant Cochrane said. “Together, we can build a traceable and transparent textile hemp industry.”
Based in Dallas, privately held Panda Biotech has developed 22 projects representing approximately $12 billion in invested capital. The company is currently developing large-scale, industrial Hemp Gin facilities.
“Thanks to a partnership with scientific traceability company, Oritain, Panda Biotech can assure their brand partners and the consumer that all the hemp fiber the company processes in Texas is authentic U.S. hemp, grown by U.S. farmers,” Dixie Carter, president of Panda Biotech, said. “Panda Biotech is developing what is believed to be the largest hemp facility in the world and investing heavily in a greener future. Working with Oritain, Panda can protect and promote that future and, together, help the industry, and consumers, dress more responsibly.”
Oritain uses forensic science to trace the origin of products. It works with nature and doesn’t rely on barcodes, packaging or other tracer systems. Everything that is grown, reared or made, is a product of its environment, absorbing a ratio of elements and nutrients depending on where in the world it comes from. This is what Oritain analyzes, using a combination of forensic science and statistics to accurately verify the origin of products.