Resomation rapidly decomposes bodies in a solution of water and potassium hydroxide heated to 150°C (302°F). Although the process was developed in the United States, it is not yet legal in most states; nor is it legal in the UK.

Enter Resomation Ltd, a Glasgow company that has entered into discussions with more than a dozen local authorities that are desperate to find new ways of handling their dead and interested in learning more about resomation. Because no local authority can approve resomation until the process is legalized by the national Government, however, Resomation Ltd is also lobbying members of the House of Commons.

A report in The Independent, citing an acknowledgment by justice minister Bridget Prentice, suggests those efforts might be getting somewhere. “We are… aware of the growing interest in resomation as an alternative method of disposal. In view of this interest we are giving consideration to the representations that have already been made to us and are exploring how best to engage more widely on this issue,” says Prentice.

New Solutions, Not-so-New Problem
Seven years ago, a report from the House of Commons environment committee expressed alarm about the “sheer magnitude of the problems facing our cemeteries” and called the Government’s handling of the crisis “inexcusable.” Today, experts say that half the graveyards in Greater London are already full, and the remaining capacity is being used up at the rate of 10,000 interments per year. Even with two bodies buried in each grave, the remaining space will run out quickly.

Proponents claim that legalizing resomation will not only help to alleviate the space problem, but also provide a more environmentally friendly alternative to cremation.

Some Victorian-era cemeteries in central London have already begun to turn away new burials, and many others throughout the country are nearly full. Now, from the land of those charming double-decker buses comes a revolutionary idea for dealing with the problem of cemetery overcrowding: double-decker graves.

Under the proposed plan, remains would be exhumed and re-interred in a small casket. Using a method called “lift and deepen,” remains would be buried up to three meters (approximately 10 feet) deep, with one set of remains buried on top of another Exhumation would be limited to remains more than 100 years old, and then would take place only with permission from descendants of the dead, if they can be located.

Home Office Minister Paul Goggins said the plan is likely to run into strong resistance, mainly on religious grounds, and interviewers found that visitors at one 150-year-old cemetery were indeed uneasy with the notion of reusing graves. One woman acknowledged that reusing graves to save space makes sense on a practical level; nevertheless, she found the idea to be “quite disturbing.” According to the Government, reusing graves would not only open more space for burials, but also provide income for cash-strapped cemeteries.

Plans to survey all 25,000 burial grounds in England and Wales this year for space shortages and other problems come nearly three years after Members of Parliament (MPs) recommended recycling long-forgotten graves to save historic cemeteries from decline.

About 72 percent of the 600,000 people who die in the UK each year choose cremation over burial. But MPs warn that unless the space shortage in cemeteries is resolved, most people will no longer have a choice.