‘Boil in the bag’ funerals could be given go-ahead as review launched
9 June 2025, 15:17 | Updated: 9 June 2025, 15:50
Plans to let people be ‘cremated’ in boiling water and then flushed down the drain could be given the go-ahead after a legal review.
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The Law Commission is proposing to allow the approval of alkaline hydrolysis and human composting as new ways of disposing of people’s bodies.
Alkaline hydrolysis uses water, alkaline chemicals, heat and pressure to break down a body into liquid and pieces of bone, the surviving bone fragments and teeth are ground down into liquid and sent into the sewers. It takes between two and 18 hours in total.
The plans were initially announced in 2023 in what was described as “the biggest change to funerals in over 120 years” but were halted due to a series of regulatory hurdles that made it impossible.
The Law Commission says there is not yet clear regulatory approval of the process and therefore it effectively cannot be carried out in the UK.
A spokesman from Co-op Funeralcare said: “At Co-op Funeralcare, we are committed to serving the needs of our member-owners and clients and offering the most sustainable and affordable services.
“In 2023, we announced our ambition to pilot Resomation in the UK, and we subsequently worked closely with the Government to explore the regulatory requirements to introduce this service across the nation. However, we did not proceed with this as, at the time, we were unable to find a path through the current regulatory framework.
“We welcome The Law Commission’s review and encourage exploration into alternative methods that provide consumers with greater choice and deliver environmental benefits.”
The Law Commission’s consultation proposes that the law is changed to allow for new funeral methods and to define regulations around them, as
Well as define new Criminal offences for improper use.
Dr Lian Lundy, of Middlesex University, a wastewater specialist, said: “We collected the wastewater and analysed it for the sort of parameters used for trade effluent and all the pollutants that we looked at fell well within the range of values they would accept.
“From a technical perspective, for the parameters we looked at, it wasn’t an issue.
“From a water quality perspective, our study didn’t indicate there were any issues with discharging to sewer.”
She said the main hurdles to overcome were social acceptability of the idea.
