The cannabis industry can learn valuable lessons in sustainability from an unlikely source: Big Tobacco.
After 23 years in the tobacco industry, including my time at SWM International—a 400-year-old papermaking pioneer providing specialty papers for cigarette filters, wraps, and tipping—I’ve witnessed firsthand how regulatory mandates and environmental concerns have compelled companies to innovate and adapt to a sustainability-focused market.
Now, as the Managing Director of Botani, SWM’s cannabis-specific market brand, I’m applying this knowledge to the nascent cannabis papermaking industry. We’re leveraging cutting-edge advancements to address similar challenges and opportunities, supporting our B2B customers’ growth in this ever-evolving landscape. Our hope is to show the entire industry that the sustainable innovations developed over decades in the tobacco industry can be effectively applied to cannabis today.
What We Learned from Big Tobacco
The tobacco industry has long struggled with sustainability challenges. Its entire product life cycle—from resource-intensive farming practices to widespread waste products—takes its toll on the environment. However, the industry recently began tackling these problems in earnest.
Years ago, tobacco companies confronted a challenge: how to reuse the byproducts that ended up in landfills. We invented a process to take stems and scraps off the factory floors, and even reclaimed cigarettes, and turned them into a reusable product.
Since tobacco is made of cellulose, we reconstituted it into a new, usable form. This process allowed us to combine the fiber and solubles inside the plant, creating a homogeneous, quality-controlled product that could be easily blended with virgin tobacco to help remove the natural variability from one crop year to the next.
This reconstituted tobacco product had multiple benefits. It provided cost savings, as it was generally less expensive than virgin tobacco. The process also allowed for better quality control and consistency in the final product, ensuring a uniform taste for consumers. Depending on the blend, reconstituted tobacco could comprise anywhere from 5% to 21% of the final product.
The Botani Recon Mission
When we founded Botani, we saw an opportunity to apply this same sustainable process to the hemp and cannabis industry. Just as tobacco producers were once paying to dispose of their waste, we found that hemp producers extracting isolates or oils for gummies and tinctures were facing a similar issue with their biomass waste. We realized we could buy the leaves, stems, and flowers left over after extraction and turn them into a reusable product for wrappers, fillers, and rolling and pre-roll papers.
Biodiverse Products and Processes
Our approach at Botani is centered on what we call “biodiverse” products. This term encompasses two key aspects of our sustainability efforts.
First, we work with annual crops like hemp, which regenerate every year and require less water and oxygen to grow. Second, by using hemp biomass to create our papers, we’re not only recycling but also creating an additional income stream for farmers and producers by turning their waste into a valuable resource.
Our biodiverse initiatives carry over into our manufacturing processes, as well. We’re investing in equipment and alternative fuels to reduce our energy and water usage. Some of our factories are transitioning to biomass boilers, using wood byproducts instead of coal or gas-based fuels.
This process is not only environmentally sound; it scales. We now can produce homogeneous, consistent products that can be dosed accurately—a crucial factor as the industry moves towards more regulation. Whether it’s wraps, filler, or pre-rolls, our reconstituted hemp products offer consistency in flavor, active ingredient content, and release.
Recently, we’ve seen a shift in the market towards pre-rolls, likely due to their convenience. While booklet demand is flat, cone use is skyrocketing. This trend makes sense in North America, where roll-your-own tobacco isn’t common. Our reconstituted hemp filler products are perfectly positioned to meet this demand, offering a consistent base that can be combined with flower, dosed properly with THC or CBD, and flavored to create uniform pre-rolls that satisfy both consumers and regulators.
Thinpact
Botani’s recon and biodiversity practices align perfectly with SWM International, our parent company’s sustainability initiative, “ThinPact.” ThinPact represents our commitment to progressing towards more sustainable solutions and processes, and to supporting our clients and partners in their own transitions.
Our program is based on four key pillars: greenhouse gas emissions reduction, natural resource preservation, eco-design of our product portfolio, and social engagement. To date, we have reduced our energy usage 9 percent since 2021. We are on track for zero deforestation and landfill usage by 2030.
Our journey in sustainability is ongoing, and we’re excited to be at the forefront of these innovations in the cannabis industry. As we continue to develop new products and processes, we remain committed to our goal of achieving more with less. Just as the tobacco industry was compelled to innovate, the cannabis sector now has the opportunity to leapfrog ahead, building sustainability into its foundation from the start.
Photo by MART PRODUCTION
