What Is Aquamation, Claimed to Be More Environmentally Friendly?
The practice of human burial has continued to evolve in line with changes in technology and environmental awareness. If historically the main options after death were usually burial or cremation by fire, now there is a new, more environmentally friendly alternative: aquamation, or water cremation.
Recently, Scotland became the first country in the United Kingdom to officially permit this method as a sustainable funeral option.
The concept has attracted attention because it offers a new way to treat the deceased with a carbon footprint far lower than traditional cremation.
Instead of using fire as in conventional cremation, the process uses an aqueous solution and heated alkaline substances to break down the body’s tissues.
In the aquamation process, the body is placed in a high-pressure chamber containing a mixture of water and potassium hydroxide (potash/lye). The solution is then heated to around 90–150 degrees Celsius.
Because the vessel is pressurized, the solution does not boil. Instead, the liquid gradually dissolves the body’s organic tissues over several hours until only the bones remain.
This method is often promoted as a more environmentally friendly alternative to cremation.
The bones are then ground into cremated remains (cremains) that can be kept by the family in a urn or scattered at designated sites.
The difference lies in the colour and amount of ashes: ashes from fire cremation are usually grey, whereas ashes from aquamation tend to be white. Additionally, the amount of ash produced by aquamation is typically greater.
The method has several technical advantages. For instance, medical devices such as pacemakers do not need to be removed beforehand.
According to research from the National Law School of India University, another benefit is that mercury from dental fillings can be captured and recycled, rather than burned and released into the atmosphere.
The process emits millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, and releases pollutants such as PM10 and PM2.5 into the air.