Water Cremation is an end-of-life process which breaks down the body in a stainless steel drum filled with a solution heated to about 90C for 10 hours.Australia is heading towards what is being called "peak death" as the baby boomer generation ages.
Water cremation, also known as alkaline hydrolysis, has gained popularity overseas, but until now, only two facilities in Australia have offered a service similar to the process.Water cremation involves placing a body inside a stainless steal drum, filling it with a water and alkaline solution and heating it to approximately 90 degrees Celsius for about 10 hours.
"Water cremation produces around 90 per cent less direct emissions compared to a fire cremation," Mr Cooper said. "We know that we've had about 169,301 deaths registered in 2019, and the figures that are being modelled at the moment, that could increase by about 156 per cent over the next 25 to 30 years," she said."All these people are going to die and not even half of them have done a plan on how they want to die and where they want to die, how they want to be treated. We need to start having these conversations".
"We need options that have a bit of a social justice bend that can be a little cheaper or an alternative so that people don't have to just make a financial choice."Housing the dead: what happens when a city runs out of space?Eco-friendly cremation technique leaves behind half a cup of liquid DNA instead of ashes