The Church of England is to consider backing more environmentally-friendly methods of disposing of dead bodies, including water cremation and human composting.
An internal consultation will consider the theological, practical and pastoral issues around alternatives to cremation and burial that are used in some countries.
The matter was raised at the C of E’s legislative body, the General Synod, which is meeting in London this week. Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, addressed the contentious issue of same-sex marriage in his opening address.
Just over a year ago, Desmond Tutu, the archbishop of Cape Town and anti-apartheid activist, requested aquamation for his remains.
The process, also known as alkaline hydrolysis, resomation or water cremation, involves immersing a body for three to four hours in a mixture of water and a strong alkali, such as potassium hydroxide, in a pressurised metal cylinder and heated to about 150C.
The process liquifies everything except for the bones, which are then dried in an oven and reduced to white dust, placed in an urn and returned to relatives.
Human composting, also known as terramation, is the natural organic reduction of human remains to soil. A body is placed in an enclosure, after non-organic materials, such as metal fillings, pacemakers and artificial joints, have been removed.
Warm air and organic materials such as wood chips, alfalfa and straw speed up the process of decomposition. Over the course of about 30 days, the body, even bones and teeth, breaks down into soil, creating about one cubic metre of soil.
The Rev Canon Andrew Dotchin, who raised the issue at the Synod, said Tutu’s choice of aquamation was “a challenge [to] other Christians to be more careful with what they do with their remains”.
Water cremation is not against the law in the UK, but water companies have been reluctant to allow it after concerns have been expressed about liquid from machines entering the sewage system.
However, tests conducted by Yorkshire Water on samples from five UK water cremations in April 2019 found there was no basis for such concerns, and no DNA was found to be present in the samples. Yorkshire Water has since granted a consent to discharge for water cremation to Resomation Ltd, a company based in Leeds.
Howard Pickard, its managing director, said: “The public want more environmentally friendly methods of disposing of a body, and this certainly meets that need.” Resomation was a “simple process” that enabled the body “to go through the natural process of breaking down to its constituent parts,” he told Funeral Directors Monthly.
Water cremation is permitted in at least 20 US states. Human composting is legal in Washington DC, Oregon, Colorado and Vermont.
In the UK, about three-quarters of bodies are cremated, and the rest are buried. Cremation releases 400kg of CO2 into the atmosphere per body. Burial, which can also result in toxins seeping into soil, is increasingly scarce and expensive in built-up areas.
Cremations became legal in Britain in 1902, although they were still a minority choice for many years. In 1944, Dr William Temple, the archbishop of Canterbury, was cremated, showing members of the church that the practice was now acceptable. The pope lifted a ban on Roman Catholic cremations in 1963.
Dotchin said there might be some qualms among C of E members about water cremation or human composting but added: “The misgivings will be those who have misgivings about any form of disposals other than burial.”
In his opening address to the Synod before a five-hour debate on Monday, Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, acknowledged “deep and passionately held differences” within the church on same-sex marriage.
He warned against the C of E becoming embroiled in culture wars, saying: “We live today in a time of war physical and war cultural. We too easily import culture wars and lapse into their language. It is the sea we swim in. We do not need to drink it.”
