The green revolution is here to stay. It affects all sectors, even the most unsuspected, such as funeral homes. For some time now, it has been known about the existence of ecological cardboard coffins – which are used for both burials and cremations – which are much more environmentally friendly because they are less polluting both for the soil and in the air But the industry does not stop innovating and going further, to the point that a company in the Netherlands offers coffins made from fungi. To be precise, rather than being manufactured, these coffins are “grown” by mixing the mushroom root structure (mycelium) together with recycled hemp fiber.
Managers of the company, called Loop Biotech, explain to La Vanguardia that “the product decomposes in the right conditions in 45 days”, so that the body of the deceased also decomposes more quickly. “It takes two or three years, much less than what happens with conventional coffins, where it can take between 10 and 20 years”, emphasizes Bob Hendrikx, founder of the company.
He assures that it is the “first living coffin in the world that enriches nature by biodegrading in just 45 days and returning human nutrients in the most natural way”. The company currently has the capacity to manufacture 500 coffins or urns (also biodegradable) per month. Each of them weighs about 30 kilos and is able to support up to 200 kg.
The product, which has a cost of 995 euros (a conventional coffin has an average price of around 1,200 euros, according to an OCU study) “is legal for traditional burials, cremation and natural burials”, underlines Hendrikx, of 29 years Indeed, it is ideal for so-called natural or green burials, where bodies are buried less than a meter deep to facilitate decomposition in a completely biodegradable coffin, such as this coffin made from fungi.
There are not many cemeteries where this type of graves can be made – also called natural or green – in Spain, a country where Loop Biotech admits that it has not yet invoiced any orders. Their customers are more concentrated in places like Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom or Australia, territories where this type of enclosure and new funerary culture is more present.
However, in Spain it is possible to find some. Without going any further, in the Serra de Collserola (Barcelona), specifically in the municipality of Papiol. There is the Roques Blanques regional cemetery, which is managed by the Ãltima funeral group. Its CEO, Joan Ventura, explains that these biodegradable coffins are still not widely accepted. “Not even in the Netherlands”, he asserts. The families – he affirms – do not “like the idea that the bodies of their deceased are degraded”: “They have reluctance. It takes time.”
They use, he explains, ecological coffins, “that is, of wood from controlled felling, which do not contain varnishes or chemical elements that could contaminate them when they are cremated or buried”.
Javier Ferrándiz, founder of RestGreen, a Spanish company based in Madrid that has been manufacturing biodegradable cardboard coffins for years, does not think so. “Since we appeared we have not stopped receiving emails from families who want the coffin”. The problem, he argues, is that the sector “isn’t very keen” to see them on the market. The reason? The price of their coffins, he says: 350 euros.
Although their coffins are designed to degrade underground, he says they are used a lot for cremations – “in Spain, a high percentage of burials, well over 50%, already correspond to cremations” , he argues – because the waste they generate “is almost zero”: “We are the most sustainable”.
Beyond ecological or biodegradable coffins, what the Ãltima group does use are urns for ashes that degrade and are made of clay. Ventura explains that 15 years ago they decided to start burying them at the foot of the trees and that “it was a resounding success”. He assures that since then they have planted 3,000 native trees.
It states that a green burial has a cost “similar” to a conventional one, which can exceed 3,700 euros (a little less if cremation is chosen), according to the OCU study. “Yes, we would be talking about these numbers more or less”, he concludes.
