In a potential breakthrough for the Australian deathcare sector, an initiative has been taken to complete a significant research project into innovative alternatives to standard burial and cremation practices in Australia. If the application is successful, funding will be provided by the federal government, matched by our industry partners, to establish a Cooperative Research Centre Project (CRC-P). The project will for the first time critically assess different human disposal alternatives. Given the interest of the larger contributing partners, the CRC-P submission includes field trials of Natural Organic Reduction. This will be a first in Australian conditions.
What is a Cooperative Research Centre Project?
CRC-P grants provide funding from the Federal Department of Industry, Science and Resources for short-term industry-led research collaborations between industries, universities and communities. The projects are funded 50/50 by industry partners and the Government. Projects typically run for 3 years with a budget of around $3 million. Projects must enhance innovation and the competitiveness of Australian industry, whilst also matching a government research and development priority, one of which is the production of “renewables and low emissions technologies”.
Who are the Partners in the Project?
The partnership is led by Austeng, a family-based SME well-known to most members of ACCA. Importantly, Austeng will be supported by DeathTech, an internationally respected death studies research team based at the University of Melbourne, to provide arm’s length independent research. Kings Funeral Services, based in Geelong, Victoria, will play a leading role in the project by hosting Australia’s first NOR service. Recompose, based in Seattle USA, are pioneers of NOR technologies and will provide their technical and commercial expertise and experience to the project. Other important partners come from across the Australian deathcare sector: the Centennial Park Cemetery Authority, the Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust, the Geelong Cemeteries Trust, Metropolitan Memorial Parks, the Australasian Cemeteries and Crematoria Association and the Australian Death Studies Society.
Why is innovation necessary?
Standard burial and cremation are not consistent with Australia’s national goals of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and are not consistent with the changing values of many Australians who recognise that we are in the midst of a climate emergency. As ACCA members know well, Australia currently sees almost 200,000 registered deaths annually, a number that is estimated to increase to over 430,000 deaths per year by 2066. Not so often acknowledged though, is that burial conducted in a standard cemetery is the most environmentally harmful method of body disposal due to the resource-intensive burial process. Millions of tons of cement, steel and stone are required; native flora and fauna are eliminated or compromised; and damage to groundwater may occur. Land-use opportunity costs for cemeteries are also very high and cemetery space in many cities (e.g. Sydney and inner Melbourne) are at or near capacity. While seemingly superior to burial, a single cremation uses the equivalent energy that the average person uses in an entire month and produces 160 Kg of carbon emissions, as well as mercury vapour and other toxins such as dioxins.
The funeral and cemetery sector will be called upon to play its part in achieving net-zero goals and meeting the community’s environmental values. The CRC-P team has consulted widely with cemetery trusts on the eastern seaboard and with the major professional associations in the sector. Candidate eco-friendly technologies for the sector were canvassed, including alkaline hydrolysis, enhanced natural burial methods, alternative fuels for cremation, and natural organic reduction (NOR). Public attitudes to all of these will be examined in the research conducted by the Deathtech team.
What exactly are the Project’s Objectives?
The project will address the following questions, identified as critical by CRC-P partners, beginning with the big picture: (1) To what extent are each of these novel alternatives acceptable to the public? Then, drilling down to NOR, (2) does existing industry data and scholarly literature support claims that NOR is effective, safe and environmentally preferable? (2) Is NOR acceptable to the funeral directors and cemeteries that provide services to the public? (3) Is NOR acceptable to the public? (4) Is NOR likely to be affordable for consumers and commercially viable for service providers? (5) Is NOR compliant with national, state and local regulations?
A three-phase research program will seek answers to these questions.
In phase 1, the DeathTech research team (UniMelb) will conduct a critical desk-based assessment of the claims made by proponents of eco-friendly alternatives to standard burial and cremation, using all available scientific and industry-derived data. Resulting reports will be made available to CRC-P partners initially, and will then be shared with the broader sector.
In parallel, in phase 2, qualitative and quantitative research will build an evidence base on public attitudes to alternatives, focusing on NOR but including comparisons with alkaline hydrolysis, natural burial, and non-fossil fuel cremation. This will be achieved through a nationally representative survey, focus groups, and interviews with members of the public and front-line industry workers. We seek to identify levels of public acceptance of NOR relative to other eco-friendly alternatives, with a focus on barriers and enablers to public acceptance.
In phase 3, we will conduct field trials of NOR. Industry lead Austeng will manufacture the pods in partnership with US-based pioneers Recompose, and pods will be installed and operated at Kings Funerals in Victoria. Field trials will enable the real-time evaluation of environmental impact, particularly gas emissions and compost safety. This evaluation will be conducted by Dr. Clayton Butterly, a University of Melbourne soil scientist and Vice President of the Victorian Branch of Soil Science Australia.
Why NOR trials?
Of the alternatives, our industry partners identified NOR as having strong potential for the Australian market and context and are prepared to field trial NOR if our application is successful.
NOR has been developed by our US-based project partner, Recompose, and has been deployed in the US market since 2020. However, NOR’s claims of environmental and social benefits and public acceptance have not been validated in an Australian context, nor subject to independent scientific analysis. The CRC-P will fill these gaps and address the unknowns, contributing to the transition of the sector towards net-zero carbon emissions, while maintaining financial sustainability and meeting wider community values.
What exactly is NOR?
The NOR process comprises 5 steps: (1) the body is placed in a custom reusable pod together with a carefully calibrated mix of organic material, including a biodegradable shroud, and a funeral ceremony often accompanies this step; (2) microbes break the body down during 4-6 weeks in this controlled micro-environment; (3) the contents of the pod are removed, mechanically reduced to a uniform size and returned to the pod; (4) the breakdown of the body is complete after a further period of 2-4 weeks; (5) the contents of the pod are removed (a second ceremony may occur here) and the humus soil remains are available for use as compost.
So far so good, but NOR has not been independently tested and has not been trialled within the Australian context. It is not known whether this technology will achieve its environmental performance goals, how it will be received by the wider public, or how it might be adopted within the funeral and cemetery industries. Further, NOR requires new ways of handling and interacting with the dead, both for the workers and for the bereaved, requiring both professional training and public education.
What are our chances of winning funding from the government?
Winning this funding is by no means a sure thing. Although we have a strong application, the funding scheme attracts high-quality applications from high-priority industry sectors, such as biotechnology, energy production, cyber-security, and materials processing. The scheme is therefore highly competitive. The success rate varies, depending on a range of considerations we unfortunately cannot predict, and in recent years has moved from a low of around 15% to a high of around 30%. Wish us luck!
What next?
If the application is successful, you will definitely hear about it! If not successful, we will recalibrate and reboot for another round and you will also hear about it. If you have not been involved and would like to be, or if you have any questions at all, please contact Ross George at Austeng [email protected]) or Michael Arnold at the University of Melbourne ([email protected]).