Kent’s ‘deep freeze’ funeral service could be grave’s end

“DEEP freeze” funerals for people who don’t want to be buried or cremated could be about to become a reality in the UK.

Plans for a “green” crematorium, which freezes bodies instead of burning them, are under consideration by Sevenoaks district council in Kent.

If approved, the facility, which will come complete with a chapel and a café, will be the first of its kind in the world.

Using a process called cryomation, which is an ecologically friendly alternative to burial or cremation, dead bodies are frozen to –200C and pulverised into powder.

Bodies are placed in a bath of pure liquid nitrogen for around an hour where they will cool to –192C (–313F). This causes a body to crystallise, allowing it to then be crushed into particles by a machine.

The dried body is then run through a process that removes any metals from the remains. This eliminates any potentially harmful minerals that might have survived from a tooth filling, prosthetic, or another bodily source.

It is considered to be more environmentally friendly than cremating bodies, as the process does not create as such harmful air pollution.

According to Susanne Wiigh-mäsak, the Swedish biologist who spent 20 years developing the concept, it is the most eco-friendly form of burial ever devised.

Land available for traditional burials is running so low that graveyards are resorting to the controversial practice of reusing graves.