Free Republic

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. 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...

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. 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. In resomation the body is placed in a silk bag, itself placed within a metal cage frame. This is then loaded into a...