Environmental Policy
Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures’s Environmental Policy is available as a printed guidebook in our office, and in the form of a video-based narrative for our employees
We at Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures are conscious of our social responsibilities with regards to helping the environment through our working practices. Our objectives are to both sustain the health and biodiversity of our our environment for our descendants, and regenerate the land by our conscious sourcing and manufacturing practices. We believe that our company’s responsibilities reach beyond the borders of our facilities and lands. We make every effort to to conserve resources throughout our operations.
Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures meets existing environmental laws and regulations, while endeavoring to go beyond the status quo by actively creating solutions that offset carbon emissions, improve working conditions, increase literacy and provide healthy food for our workers and community through our organic gardens.
Our company’s future and the future of the natural environment across the regions of Nepal where we work are deeply interconnected.
Awareness and Commitment
We endeavor to ensure staff and customers are familiar with and implement our environmental commitments and objectives.
Transport
Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures endeavors to reduce emissions and increase efficiency wherever possible with respect to transport.
Practical Implementation at Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures:
We encourage the use of local products and services to reduce transport costs.
Our team avoids unnecessary travel, and utilizes energy efficient vehicles. We encourage cycling and electric vehicles for local transportation.
Energy & Water Consumption
Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures is beyond carbon neutral, as all of our products are made from industrial hemp which has been scientifically proven to absorb more CO2 per hectare than any forest or commercial crop. We actively reduce our dependence on fossil fuels for transportation, while prioritising a transition to renewable energy sources for our office and manufacturing facilities. Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures uses energy efficient products wherever practical and monitors usage to achieve efficient energy consumption.
Practical Implementation at Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures:
Our offices and workshops are built with natural materials (hemp, lime, bamboo, clay) to ensure our buildings are both energy efficient and serve as examples of active carbon sequestration.
We make every effort to use water efficiently and avoid pollutants entering the drainage system.
We facilitate the collection of rooftop rainwater in storage tanks (62,000 liter capacity) for industrial uses. We responsibly manage the usage of groundwater for drinking and other day to day applications such as garden irrigation.
Our team continuously increases the use of solar powered lights. We utilize electric powered motors in place of diesel engines wherever possible.
Waste Generation and Management
Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures minimises the production of waste and pollution, especially when it comes to unnecessary packaging.
Our team implements measures to reduce the volume of waste generated and to increase the proportion of that waste which is recycled, and more practically, upcycled into new and innovative products.
Practical Implementation at Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures:
We compost all of our organic industrial (hemp, lime, clay) , garden and kitchen waste. Thereby, we co-create rich soils for future gardening seasons.
We’ve organized separate recycling and upcycling bins for fabric, glass, paper, plastic, and cans/tins.
At our offices, we reuse and recycle our stationary waste.
Materials and Resources
Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures makes every effort to minimise environmental impact with regard to sourcing materials and resources.
Practical Implementation at Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures:
Our team avoids using materials which have an undesirable effect on the environment, and wherever possible, we utilize locally- made recycled goods.
We only work with suppliers and contractors who also share a commitment to the environment, and take into account the long-term environmental impact of materials utilized while repairing, altering or rebuilding any new projects or existing premises.
Our team maximizes the use of electronic communication and information storage as an alternative to paper records.
Our team reviews the quality and environmental sustainability of food products served to our staff. We provide a community garden for our employees while actively teaching and practicing organic and regenerative farming.
When it comes to our products reaching their respective destinations, we utilize compostable (hemp based, such as hemp paper), recycled or recyclable packaging material for all of our products.
Natural Environment
Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures actively works to protect and enhance natural habitats while actively engaging in community initiatives to preserve biodiversity. Our entire scope of operations is regenerative, whereby from sourcing our hemp to creating our final product, we encourage the elimination or reduction of plastic, as well as soil regeneration through composting and organic cultivation.
Practical Implementation at Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures:
Our offices, office areas, lobby, workshops and surrounding areas include as many trees and plants as possible, to ensure good air quality and a pleasant working environment.
Our team has created a supply chain in cooperation with villagers across the western foothills of the Himalayas in order to source wild-grown Hemp Stalks which were previously burnt for disposal. In this manner, our work reduces emissions, provides an extra source of income for the villagers, and creates long-lasting products from hemp. Together, our efforts aim to ensure scientifically-proven carbon sequestration and neutrality across the supply chain and manufacuring process.
Responsibility and Review
This Environmental Policy is the the Co-Founders of Shah Hemp Inno-Ventures alongside specialized team members and consultants versed in impact measurement and management. We review this policy annually while publishing and measuring performance targets as part of that review.
This policy was updated on July 16th 2024 and will be reviewed in December 2024.
Reference Research and Links:
Environmental impact assessment of hemp cultivation and its seed-based food products
Frontiers of Environmental Science 10 May 2024
Marlyse Meffo Kemda, Michela Marchi, Elena Neri, Nadia Marchettini, Valentina Niccolucci
“…the ability of hemp to sequester carbon in the soil due to crop residues left in the field (i.e., carbon storage) was evaluated (−2.7 kg CO2 (ha year)−1), showing that the CF was fully compensated (−0.27 kg CO2 (ha year)−1 for conventional outdoor and −1.07 kg CO2 (ha year)−1 for organic outdoor). The results support the idea that the production chain can be sustainable and carbon-neutral only when all the different parts of the plant (flowers, seeds, fibers, leaves, and all residues) were used to manufacture durable goods according to the framework of the circular economy.”
Hemp “more effective than trees” at sequestering carbon says Cambridge researcher
DeZeen, Marcus Fairs, 30 June 2021
Hemp can capture atmospheric carbon twice as effectively as forests while providing carbon-negative biomaterials for architects and designers, according to Cambridge University researcher Darshil Shah.
“Numerous studies estimate that hemp is one of the best CO2-to-biomass converters,” said Shah, who is senior researcher at the Centre for Natural Material Innovation at Cambridge.
“It’s even more effective than trees,” he said. “Industrial hemp absorbs between 8 to 15 tonnes of CO2 per hectare of cultivation.”
“In comparison, forests typically capture 2 to 6 tonnes of CO2 per hectare per year depending on the number of years of growth, the climatic region, the type of trees etc.”
On the theoretical carbon storage and carbon sequestration potential of hempcrete
Journal of Cleaner Production
Volume 266
, 1 September 2020, 121846
Jay H. Arehart,William S. Nelson,Wil V. Srubar III
Considering biogenic carbon storage, we predict that the total life cycle CO2e emissions of hempcrete can be negative, with a minimum of −16.0 kg CO2e/FU for the hempcrete mixture formulations considered herein.
Assessment of Carbon Sequestration of Hemp Concrete
September 2017
Conference: International Conference on Advances in Construction Materials and SystemsAt: Chennai, IndiaAffiliation: RILEM
Lime Hemp Concrete (LHC) or Hemp Concrete is a carbon negative building material that uses Hemp and Lime. This research was focused on quantifying the already established carbon sequestration capability of LHC. An LHC test cube was manufactured, CHN Elemental analysis of hemp and XRD analysis of binder was conducted to determine the quantity of carbon sequestration. Carbon sequestration potential of 470.3 kg of CO2 per m3 of LHC was predicted using stoichiometry. At the age of 28 days, it was found that the cube had achieved a carbon sequestration of 307.26 kg of CO2 per m3 of LHC.