Danes Recycle Corpses

Indians used every part of a buffalo when they killed it. The Danes are learning from their example.

Using corpses for greenery may be a step too far
But in one area, greenery might be taken to excess. Denmark’s crematorium association has revealed its profitable sideline in recycling metal parts salvaged from the dead. Burnt bodies leave knee or hip replacements that can be recycled as scrap metal, says Allan Vest, the association’s chairman. Since 2006 the country’s 31 crematoriums have earned DKr 77,762 ($15,000) from 4,810 kg of salvaged metal sold to a Dutch recycler.

When the ecclesiastical ministry changed the law to allow such recycling in 2005, it barred the reuse of such spare parts in works of art. But it did not say anything about telling relatives about the fate of a deceased.

The International Cremation Federation, a lobby group based in The Hague, advises against commercialising the products of cremation. But the Danish Council of Ethics, a group including scientists, clergy and philosophers that advises parliament, has found no ethical reason to oppose recycling heat.

From The Economist