Closer than expected: Resomation

A new alternative

We previously wrote about resomation, or alkaline hydrolysis, as a potential alternative to burial and cremation, in which the body is dissolved in liquid. At the time, this possibility seemed like something from the distant future, but perhaps this future will soon come closer. Minister Ollongren of the Ministry of the Interior has decided, based on advice from the Health Council, to make resomation legally possible.

Resomation

What makes this new form of funeral care interesting, besides cremation and burial? This new technique uses less finite resources, has fewer harmful emissions and takes up less available space, according to the advice of the Health Council. Furthermore, the process, if carried out correctly, meets the legal requirements for “safety, dignity and sustainability”.

Regular cremation and burial

Around the world, approximately 150,000 people die every day. This number is increasing as the world population increases. There are already countries, such as England, where the moment that all cemeteries are full is in sight. This use of land for burial has an enormous environmental impact. It would be a logical step to switch to cremation, but this also has an enormous impact. It is estimated that the average cremation has an environmental footprint equal to approximately 320 kilos of CO₂. Based on research by TNO, led by Elisabeth Keijzer, it has been shown that Resomation has seven times less CO₂ emissions than cremation. This makes resomation a much better option to switch to. For comparison in a table, with the costs of compensating the environmental emissions:

Alkaline hydrolysis is essentially the natural process a body goes through when it is buried, but accelerated. The machines create the conditions where this process only takes 90 minutes. This is a process that normally takes decades.

• Step 1: The machine weighs the body and automatically determines the correct amount of fluid to properly process the body.
• Step 2: A mixture of water and potassium hydroxide is added and the mixture is heated at 150 ºC for 60 to 90 minutes.
• Step 3: The liquid is cooled and drained.
• Step 4: The remaining bones are washed at 120 ºC for 20 minutes, and the process is completed.

The remains

After the process, the bones and a residual liquid remain. The pH value of this is tested and adjusted if necessary, to allow it to enter the sewer with the correct values. Interestingly enough, there are also other ways of processing this residual liquid. For example, some of it can be given to relatives, but it can also be used to fertilize fields and produce biogas. As for the bones: they have become so delicate that they can easily be ground into powder. They are dried and then pulverized in a cremulator, the same machine that is used for this purpose during cremation.

The Health Council

This advice is the result of a committee specially set up by the Health Council, with expertise in the field of anthropology, environmental technology, ethics, law and biological safety. The conclusions are partly based on a Safety Analysis by TNO, a study based on a resomation installation investigated in the United States. This showed, among other things, that no negative effects are expected when purifying resomation effluent.

What next?

We now expect that Resomeren will be possible in 2026. First, a bill must be approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate, after which the necessary equipment can be purchased by funeral companies. In addition, Minister Ollongren wanted to record the procedure for approving new methods of funeral disposal. This will make it clear in the future which new alternatives have a chance of being permitted. For example, there is currently too little information available about human composting to include this in the law, but the necessary information can now be gathered more easily.