Like hemp, it is easy to cultivate and well-known to farmers. The fiber length is equivalent to that of pine. They are both warm temperate and tropical species that can be used for paper. Linters are used in the manufacture of cotton fiber content paper which is considered very high quality. The need to build a sustainable future cannot be denied.
Sustainability is a complex issue.
It is a step in the right direction to use alternative fibers for pulp and papermaking. With hemp you can start form the bottom and introduce the value of sustainable agricultural practices instead of remaining caught in the machine of large scale petro-chemical agriculture which is already in place with other fiber plants. Like all vegetable oils, soy has a very low VOC content compared to traditional hydrocarbon ink-oils. It happens that vegetable oil inks are ideal for this, because their low tack is much kinder and gentler on the weakened fibers of recycled papers. Traditional news inks contained hydrocarbon mineral-oil solvent.