Belgium's plan to wash its dead down the drain: Bodies would be dissolved in caustic solution... and flushed into the sewer
It could hardly be said to be the most dignified of send-offs.
Undertakers in Belgium plan to eschew traditional burials and cremations and start dissolving corpses instead.
The move is intended to tackle a lack of burial space and environmental concerns as 573lbs of carbon dioxide are released by each cremated corpse.
Did you catch that? It's not so much about space, as the article first leads you to believe, but rather carbon: "environmental concerns as 573lbs of carbon dioxide are released by each cremated corpse." There's the rub, my friends! But, let's continue ...
Wow ... what have we come to when we even entertain the idea of "flushing" people into the sewer system??The EU is considering proposals from Belgian undertakers to be allowed to dissolve dead bodies in caustic solutions
Under the process, known as resomation, bodies are treated in a steel chamber with potassium hydroxide at high pressure and a temperature of 180c (350f).
The raised pressure and temperature means the body reaches a similar end point as in standard cremation — just bones left to be crushed up — in two to three hours.
Six states in America have passed legislation to allow resomation and the Scottish company behind the technology says it is in talks to allow the process in the UK.
...
Sandy Sullivan, founder of The Resomation Company said: 'Resomation offers a new, innovative approach which uses less energy and emits significantly less greenhouse gasses than cremation.
'I am getting a lot of requests from families and we hope it will become legal in Scotland within the year.
'Burial space is running out and I have had lots of people contact me whose loved ones have chosen resomation.
'It's a highly sensitive subject but I think the public are ready for it.'
The name ‘Resomation’ comes from the Greek word 'Resoma' meaning rebirth of the human body. [Clever name, isn't it, folks?]
Members of the EU Commission must rule on the Belgian proposal as there are concerns that residual waste could be flushed into the drainage system.
Belgian undertakers hope to have the greenlight within three months.
In resomation the body is placed in a silk bag, itself placed within a metal cage frame. This is then loaded into a Resomator.
The machine is filled with a mixture of water and potassium hydroxide.
The end result is a small quantity of green-brown tinted liquid containing amino acids, peptides, sugars and salts and soft, porous white bone remains which are easily crushed.
The white ash can then be returned to the next of kin of the deceased.
The liquid can be recycled back to the ecosystem by being applied to a memorial garden or forest or simply put into the sewerage system.
Now, here's an "American" version of this proposal. It seems here in the States we use "alkaline hydrolysis" or "lye liquifaction" for the process -- a bit more "to the point." From FoxNews:
Wow ... now the choices widen: burial, donation to medical research, cremation, or "liquifaction and swoosh!"Mortuaries Mull Dissolving Bodies as Burial, Cremation Alternative
Since they first walked the planet, humans have either buried or burned their dead. Now a new option is generating interest — dissolving bodies in lye and flushing the brownish, syrupy residue down the drain.
The process is called alkaline hydrolysis and was developed in this country 16 years ago to get rid of animal carcasses. It uses lye, 300-degree heat and 60 pounds of pressure per square inch to destroy bodies in big stainless-steel cylinders that are similar to pressure cookers.
No funeral homes in the U.S. — or anywhere else in the world, as far as the equipment manufacturer knows — offer it. In fact, only two U.S. medical centers use it on human bodies, and only on cadavers donated for research.
But because of its environmental advantages, some in the funeral industry say it could someday rival burial and cremation.
"It's not often that a truly game-changing technology comes along in the funeral service," the newsletter Funeral Service Insider said in September. But "we might have gotten a hold of one."
Getting the public to accept a process that strikes some as ghastly may be the biggest challenge.
Alkaline hydrolysis is legal in Minnesota and in New Hampshire, where a Manchester funeral director is pushing to offer it. But he has yet to line up the necessary regulatory approvals, and some New Hampshire lawmakers want to repeal the little-noticed 2006 state law legalizing it.
... In addition to the liquid, the process leaves a dry bone residue similar in appearance and volume to cremated remains. It could be returned to the family in an urn or buried in a cemetery.
The coffee-colored liquid has the consistency of motor oil and a strong ammonia smell. But proponents say it is sterile and can, in most cases, be safely poured down the drain, provided the operation has the necessary permits.
Alkaline hydrolysis doesn't take up as much space in cemeteries as burial. And the process could ease concerns about crematorium emissions, including carbon dioxide as well as mercury from silver dental fillings.
The University of Florida in Gainesville and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., have used alkaline hydrolysis to dispose of cadavers since the mid-1990s and 2005, respectively.
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