Cryomation

This is a tale of freeze-dried disposal. First, a bit of backstory: 

The method of preparing a body for disposal by freeze-drying was invented in the US by schoolteacher Philip Backman. He patented it in 1978, and that patent has now expired. Backman’s proposed method of reducing the body to particles left a little to be desired (I have emphasised the key passage in bold):

“A further step entails subjecting the intact, frozen body to fractionalizing means reducing same to a particulate state … Existing mechanical means such as that used in the reduction of organic or inorganic substances may be utilized in this step. By way of example, a hammer mill may be utilized.”

And then there was Promession, the brainchild of Susanne Wiigh-Mäsak. Promessa’s breakthrough was to develop a process whereby a dead body can be reduced to particles by means, not of  hammer mill, but by gentle vibration. It was, apparently, a scientific breakthrough and, more important by far, it was an aesthetic breakthrough. 

Promessa has yet, so far as we know, to demonstrate the science and there are even those who doubt whether it has been done. When Promessa UK pulled out of the enterprise in March 2012, this is what they said: 

Promessa UK is not comfortable with the lack of progress in the development of Promession technology by Promessa Organic AB. In Promessa UK’s professional opinion and after a lengthy period of due diligence Promessa UK believes Promession is still at concept stage.

Following in the footsteps of Promessa came Cryomation. After extensive research they found that the only way they could reduce a freeze-dried body was by robust means. As the leader of the team told me a few years back, “The human body is a tough piece of kit.” As I understand it, they still have their sights set on the human market. 

And now we have ecoLegacy. Led by Tony Ennis (pictured above), the ecoLegacy process involves not freezing the body but cooling it, and then reducing it to powder using pressure waves. 

We’ve spoken to ecoLegacy and they assure us they’ve done the science. 

We’ve spoken to others, who have looked impressed. 

One to watch, perhaps. 

Did you ever come across promession? It is the brainchild of Susanne Wiighe-Masak, an environmentalist Swede. It offers, or promises to offer, an eco-friendly alternative to cremation. In Susanne’s words, this is how it works:

Within a week and a half after death, the corpse is frozen to minus 18 degrees Celsius and then submerged in liquid nitrogen. This makes the body very brittle, and vibration of a specific amplitude transforms it into an organic powder that is then introduced into a vacuum chamber where the water is evaporated away.

The now dry powder then passes through a metal separator where any surgical spare parts and mercury are removed. In a similar way, the powder can be disinfected if required.

The remains are now ready to be laid in a coffin made of corn starch. There is no hurry with the burial itself. The organic powder, which is hygienic and odorless, does not decompose when kept dry. The burial takes place in a shallow grave in living soil that turns the coffin and its contents into compost in about 6-12 months time. In conjunction with the burial and in accordance with the wishes of the deceased or next of kin, a bush or tree can be planted above the coffin.

The concept captured the imaginations of many people. The imminence of the introduction of the first promator has kept us on the edge of our seats for years … and years. I wrote to Susanne in June asking how it was all going. Her reply was as upbeat as always: “The production of the first promator for Jönköping is also well on its way and the plan is to deliver that to them this winter.”

It almost certainly hasn’t happened. Susanne is a gentle person and she hoped that gentle vibration was the way to reduce a frozen body to powder. It doesn’t work that way. She had reached stalemate.

Into the breach stepped an inventor in Suffolk who took Susanne’s idea, ran with it, worked with the University of Hertfordshire and came up with the breakthrough to the problems Susanne had balked at. In his forthright way he told me on the phone that, when you’re trying to reduce a corpse to freeze-dried powder, you need to be aware that “the body is a tough piece of kit.” He does it, not with gentle vibration, but by altogether more brutal cutting and grinding. He can now reduce a body to sterile freeze-dried flakes which look a little like muesli.

He calls his process cryomation. He’s got the finance to see the project through. He’s done trials with focus groups to see what they think of it, even the cutting and grinding. Interestingly, amazingly perhaps, they liked it. They had no difficulty with the aesthetic. Remember the fuss there was about cremation? Remember what they said about resomation?

In addition to finding cryomation aesthetically acceptable, focus groups also liked the environmental benefits: it produces only 25% of the carbon produced by cremation. Best of all, it releases no mercury or dioxins. Furthermore, the remains are compostable and turn to loam in 6-12 months. You could use just one small burial plot for a family for generation after generation.

We need an alternative to cremation. We want to be able to put something back when we’re gone. Cryomation is as exciting and as desirable as promession. But is it simply going to teeter tantalizingly on the brink of imminence for ever and ever and get nowhere?

It looks not. It’s just been shortlisted by Shell, one of nine finalists picked from thousands, for a Springboard Award, made to businesses who “offer compelling plans for a product or service which helps combat climate change”. That has to be somewhat of a hallmark of credibility.

There’s a website, but it’s not airworthy yet. In balancing promise and delivery, these guys seem to have got it right. Definitely one to watch. Mid-2010, they say. That’s when we should start to hear real rumbling.