The cremation rate in the U.S. is at an all-time high. It’s a trend that’s causing major shakeups in the death care industry. To put the trend in perspective, cremations now account for 61% of all dispositions. And the cremation rate is expected to continue increasing over the next 20 years.
Funeral homes are adapting to meet the demand, but so are other companies that work within death care. For instance, the manufacturers that design and build cremation retorts have been hard at work.
The cremation retort is the chamber where the body and combustible container are incinerated. It’s the machinery that makes cremation possible, and it’s come under scrutiny as the discussion about the eco-friendliness of flame-based cremation grows.
What kind of heating sources are used? How efficient are today’s retorts? Can emissions be reduced so that the process is cleaner?
These are all questions that engineers are now looking into as they work to make incineration for cremation cleaner and more efficient as the practice becomes more popular.
Faster Cremations to Handle Increased Demand
If more people are opting to be cremated, that means cremation machines will be working over time to handle the increase. Of course, improving the efficiency of retorts is also a way to cremate more bodies in the same amount of time.
It typically takes up to four hours for a cremation to be completed. That means realistically a crematorium can cremate up to 6 bodies a day with one retort if it’s running all day. Of course, it’s not possible to continually run a retort since the cremains need to be collected and there’s going to be a certain amount of downtime to prepare the retort for the next cremation. From an operational standpoint there are significant limitations.
Since laws strictly prohibit cremating more than one body at a time, the only other ways to handle the higher volume of cremations is to put more retorts into operation or make them more efficient so that each cremation takes less time and there’s a faster turn around.
It turns out both solutions are being put into practice. Newer retorts are being designed and built to dramatically reduce the time that’s needed to cremate. Some of today’s retorts are capable of completing 12 cremations in a single day, thus doubling the efficiency.
Cremation Retorts That Lower Environmental Impact
As demand for cremation increases, the interest in lowering its impact does as well. Simply reducing the amount of time each cremation takes is helping make the cremation process more eco-friendly since less energy is used. But there are a few more key changes that are being made to make this form of disposition greener.
Less Fuel Use and Heat Loss
Two things that increase the cost of cremation are fuel use and heat loss. Retort manufacturers are addressing both simultaneously by improving the insulation of the cremation chambers. They’ve also developed better heat recovery systems so none of it goes to waste.
Enhanced Filtration For Fewer Emissions
Other than fuel use, one of the biggest environmental concerns about cremation that involves incineration is emissions. It’s one of the reasons that water cremation is considered more eco-friendly.
Not only is public demand putting pressure on retort manufacturers, there are also more environmental regulations being put into place to clean up the practice of cremation. Mercury abatement has become a hot topic of late in some states with more retorts being made with filters that can capture mercury emissions that are mainly from dental fillings.
There are also stricter regulations in some states for reducing other types of emissions. For example, the South Coast AQMD Rule 1147 in California requires that new machines generate lower levels of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide emissions.
Automation That Improves Operation While Reducing Errors
The settings that are used for a cremation also come into play in terms of how long the process takes and how efficient it is. In the past, this part has been largely up to the retort operator who is trained in using the machinery. The latest retorts are removing the risk of human error with automation and better monitoring tools.
Automated controls are making it easier to fine-tune how the retort performs to reduce the time and resources that are needed without compromising the results. And the monitoring tools allow retort operators to make adjustments as needed for improved performance.
Retort Improvements at the Right Time
The innovation of more efficient, eco-friendly retorts will have a major positive impact on the death care industry. For too long cremation retorts weren’t evolving and were relying on outdated technology. Now with so much interest and investment in improving the cremation process, we’re sure to see more manufacturers coming up with novel ways to make retorts operate even better.
And these changes are coming at the right time as more funeral homes are expanding their on-site cremation capabilities. In 2016, the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) reported that 27% of funeral homes had on-site crematoriums. By 2023 the number was up to 30% with another 10% of funeral homes planning on installing a cremation retort within the next year.
Some funeral homes are investing in their first retort to avoid outsourcing the service and improve their profit margin. Others are adding another retort to keep up with demand from clients so they don’t lose business. No matter the situation, the retorts that are being made today will help funeral homes future-proof their service selection.
If eco-friendliness is a top priority for disposition, Cremation.Green is a death care provider that can be of service. Every day we help families in Texas arrange disposition that is better for the environment and provides the family with a greater sense of purpose. Call, text or email us whenever is most convenient for you to learn more about clean flame cremation, water cremation and other eco-friendly disposition options.