Water cremation and human composting could be offered instead of traditional funerals

Water cremation and human composting could soon be offered as an alternative to traditional funerals.

A Law Commission consultation is proposing legal approval of new methods beyond burial, cremation, and the rarely used burial at sea. The paper published earlier this week highlights two methods used in other countries - alkaline hydrolysis and human composting.

Alkaline hydrolysis - also known as water cremation or resomation - involves placing a person's body into woollen shroud or other organic pouch, using water, alkaline chemicals, heat and pressure to break down the tissue. The resulting liquid is checked and treated if necessary to enter the wastewater system, while remaining pieces of bone and teeth are dried and can be ground to a powder and scattered like ashes.

Water cremation, which mimics the process of natural decomposition when someone is buried, takes between four and 14 hours. The method, which has been suggested as a greener alternative to traditional cremation, was used for the bodies of five dead people in 2019, as part of a study facilitated by Middlesex and Sheffield universities.

Anti-apartheid campaigner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who died in 2021, chose resomation for his own funeral in South Africa. Read more: What is water cremation? Co-op Funeralcare said it hoped to offer the service in the UK in 2023 but backed out because of the current regulations.

The firm welcomed the Law Commission review, which will run until spring next year, ending in a final report and draft Bill. New funerary methods are not currently regulated, other than by more general legislation such as environmental and planning laws.

Provisional proposals suggest a legal framework to enable new methods to be regulated in the future. A Co-op Funeralcare spokesperson said: "At Co-op Funeralcare, we are committed to serving the needs of our member-owners and clients and offering the most sustainable and affordable services.

"In 2023, we announced our ambition to pilot resomation in the UK, and we subsequently worked closely with government to explore the regulatory requirements to introduce this service across the nation. "However, we did not proceed with this as, at the time, we were unable to find a path through the current regulatory framework.

"We welcome the Law Commission's review and encourage exploration into alternative methods that provide consumers with greater choice and deliver environmental benefits." The consultation paper also highlights human composting, where a body is placed into a sealed chamber, or vessel, with carbon-rich organic matter, such as straw and wood chips, to enable quicker decomposition. The process takes around two to three months and resulting soil can be returned to bereaved loved ones.

Other methods involving the freezing of human remains have also been suggested, although none have them are yet viable, according to the paper..