Retting definition
Retting. - the means for separating the fibre from the woody stem of the flax plant are diverse in their methods and consequentially variable in their carbon emissions. As is presented in the scenarios in figure 4.2, the largest contributor to carbon emissions is the electricity required to heat the water. The carbon emissions from heating the water depend on the retting duration and required water temperatures, i.e. a shorter retting time at a higher temperature will release more CO2 than a longer retting time at a lower temperature. Some facilities use heated water extraction, as described by Turunen and van der Werf (2007), others prefer to dew ret the crop in the fields, dependent on the immediacy to plant a succeeding crop, and one example of a facility using rainwater for smaller-scale extraction (Helen Keys, 2022, pers. comm., 7th March). Method variability is still able to produce high-quality, evenly retted flax, with differences likely coming down to personal and business choices, and investment variability (Tahir et al., 2011; Kozlowski et al., 2020).
Retting means to cut hemp stalks and leave them in the field to rot slightly, in order to begin separating the fibers from the stalk.