Another «green» alternative to cremation is in the pipeline.Susanne Wiigh-Masak, a Swedish biologist, has for a decade proposed a technology she calls Promession.
The process involves a fully automated and patented machine.Coffins are fed in one end, and the body removed from the coffin within the unit and then treated with liquid nitrogen.
The body is then vibrated until the body fragments, after which the remains are dried and refined further, and then pa*sed through filters to remove metals, including dental amalgam.The remains are then poured into a square biodegradable coffin, again automatically, for shallow burial
For Ms Wiigh-Masak, it is all about preparing the body for this shallow burial, a process which says is akin to composting.It was in her garden on the island of Lyr on Sweden’s west coast, that the idea came to her.
«It only takes two to three weeks before the kitchen and garden waste is soil so this is what inspired me to really see if not only the kitchen and garden waste but also everything organic, including us, could be treated this way to really become soil,» she told BBC News.
So far, the technology has only been tested on pigs, with one pig even being fitted with a hip replacement prior to death, to test the efficacy with which the metal joint could be removed during the process.
Ms Wiigh-Masak is now confident commercial operations will begin soon, after the Swedish government promised to introduce new legislation that would allow individuals to use a «burial tax» paid by all Swedes not just for cremation and burial, but also for Promession.
via BBC News New body в
