recycled coffins - candle to symbolize death

Recycled Coffins 2024: Environmentally Friendly Coffins In Australia ⚰️

by Ian Guenn Tayao

Environment, Recycling 0

Recycled Coffins 2024 ⚰️: Death is something natural. Every day, hundreds and thousands of people die. One of the things people would like to do before they pass away is to leave a positive impact on Earth. But what if I tell you that even in death, you can still help the environment; would you believe me? Sit tight and read to learn more!

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A Bit About Waster

Before we discuss the topic on recycled coffins, let me share with you more information about Waster.

We here at Waster provide you with innovative solutions for you and your business’s waste management and recycling needs. Furthermore, we provide flexible, 30-day contracts instead of the typical lock-in contracts, which proves to be better.

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READ: Does Veganism Help The Environment? 🥬

Helping The Environment By Using Recycled Coffins

People who care about the Earth and who do their best to reduce, reuse, and recycle are wondering how they can help the environment even in their deaths. As a result, they seek ways on how they want their remains to be dealt with. This includes modifying their caskets to lessen their impact; how is this done?

Last 2018, the Guardian reported a dutch company Coffin in a Box Company. The company, which aims to increase environmental awareness, produces eco-friendly coffins. During an interview with the Guardian, Cor Geijtenbeek, owner of the dutch company, stated that:

In the past, people used wooden coffins made only of wood, sometimes containing cloth, but now it’s only chemically treated wood products, with synthetic glues in the casket and often paint and varnish for a high-shine effect. In no way are these coffins biodegradable and they are often made in China or eastern Europe and transported.

His company, which already makes low-carbon coffins made from poplar wood, also partnered up with the company Ecor on a casket with sides made from recycled cellulose fibres.

Cremation isn’t necessarily better for the environment as it uses a lot of energy and raises the carbon footprint. Simple burial with biodegradable products is better for the environment.

At the time of the Guardian report, he sold over a hundred of his wood caskets, costing €289 (£250) or £299 to people in Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, and Switzerland. It is estimated that the carbon footprint of his recycled coffins is 4 kg each – which is much better than the 25-30 kg of a standard coffin.

Speaking of carbon footprint, have you heard of Waster’s charitable partnership with Greenfleet? We decided to help in reducing carbon emissions by teaming up with them!

ARKA Ecopod

One more example of a company producing recycled coffins is ARKA. Called the Ecopod, it is a coffin made from naturally hardened, 100 per cent recycled paper – mainly composed of newsprint and office paper.

Additionally, if one wishes for his/her remains to be cremated, they can also avail the ARKA Acorn Urn to store their ashes. They are made from recycled paper and are available in 8 different colours. Specifically, they “have a specially designed lid and base made from moulded recycled kraft and paper, with the stalk of the lid made from a twist of tissue paper”.

“They are finished with paper made from mulberry pulp and supplied individually boxed. Made in the UK, the close-fitting lid makes the Acorn Urn ideal for the storage, or burial of ashes.”

Another example of a dutch company providing recycled coffins is DanCof. The company provides an innovative range of eco-coffins and urns that were created using biodegradable, long fibre recycled paper (PULP).

Biodegradable Coffins In Australia

Here in Australia, we also have recyclable and biodegradable coffins available. LifeArt, an Australian based company, specialises in the creation of personalised and environmentally friendly coffins. They produce strong, biodegradable coffins made out of recycled paper and cardboard. The coffins made by them adhere to the industry standards and have the strength and capabilities like those of wood-based caskets. Additionally, LifeArt even offers a wide array of designs for your coffin with different images, colours, or designs. The designed caskets include the following (check out the pictures here of biodegradable coffin options):

Australian Cedar
Abundant Roses
Endless Wave
Open Road
Piano

If you want to read more of our blogs, start here and read our blog on the history of recycling.

Benefits Of Purchasing A Recycled Coffin

After we have talked about the available environmentally friendly coffins, let us now discuss the benefits of purchasing such caskets. The perks include:

It prevents non-biodegradable materials from going into the ground – the traditional, modern way of burials exhausts a lot of non-biodegradable and non-renewable, natural resources. According to the Berkeley Planning Journal, burials in the US every year use about 30 million board feet of hardwood, 2,700 tonnes of copper and bronze, 104,272 tonnes of steel, and 1,636,000 tonnes of reinforced concrete. Using recycled coffins help reduce the utilisation of non-renewable, natural resources and avoid non-biodegradable materials from going six feet under.

It saves up a lot of space – burials nowadays use up a lot of space. And we simply cannot get rid of them, as they are non-biodegradable. But with the help of recycled coffins, this particular problem goes away. These environmentally friendly caskets easily compost. As a result, you never have to worry about using land space in burials.

This lessens our carbon footprint – from the embalming process, the tombstones, varnished coffins, and the grave itself; this produces a lot of carbon footprint that harms the environment. With the production of environmentally friendly coffins, this reduces our overall carbon footprint. See our blog on carbon footprint waste management.

Recycled Coffins: Conclusion

Even in death, you can still help the environment. By purchasing recycled coffins, you reduce your environmental impact here on Earth when you pass away.