Dead bodies to be transported four at a time in giant hearse to save on costs as they are driven to communal crematorium

A new plan to build one super crematorium in Ringsted to replace seven smaller ones in the Zealand region will reduce carbon emissions and save on money, but relatives are concerned by the plan to transport up to four bodies together to the facility.

Environmental authorities will introduce a requirement from the start of 2011 that all crematoriums must have mercury filters, and the cost of installing them has proven more expensive than some dioceses can afford, reports DR News.

The crematorium in Slagelse on Zealand is facing an 18 million kroner bill, to be covered either by the church tax or the relatives of those being cremated.

Dean Torben Hjul Andersen of the Roskilde diocese is one of those behind the initiative. He promised it would halve carbon emissions and be cheaper for relatives when the new common crematorium is used.

Andersen said a special hearse will be used that could transport up to four bodies at a time to the crematorium, sometimes travelling up to 100km away. But the dean rejected the idea that the plan would lose the respectful nature of funerals.

‘There will be a specially-built hearse or dark vehicle where the driver will wear a black suit, white shirt and tie and will be respectful and dignified,’ Andersen said.

But concerns have been raised about the cost-saving project.

Vicar Poul Joachim Stender was worried about the prospect of several bodies being transported together, adding he wouldn’t like to see his elderly mother become one of them.

‘It may be irrational, but as a relative you’re very vulnerable and aware of the smallest things. The way you treat your dead is also the way you treat the living,’ Stender said.