This work package is concerned with assessing the environmental impact of funeral practices and identifying actions that may lower adverse impacts. A combination of ethical reflection on green funerals, consideration of the relationship between human bodies and nature, and life cycle assessment, will be used to develop an action plan for the funeral industry based on dignity, safety, and sustainability. Burial processes will be assessed in terms of their environmental sustainability (land use, potential harm to the environment), and taking into account inclusivity and prevailing legislation. The two research objectives addressed in this WP are (1) to assess and compare the integrated environmental impact of different funeral techniques and to draft a white paper and action plan for greener funerals, and (2) to investigate how care ethics can open up debates about the ethical significance of funeral choices.
Specific tasks include a life cycle assessment of the environmental impact of funeral practices (B.Cycle, UAntwerp), ethical evaluation of funeral practices (Center for Ethics, UAntwerp), and integration of the findings into a white paper and action plan for greener funerals (Raewyn M. Town, UAntwerp).
Work Package 2.1: Assessing the Environmental and Economic Impacts Associated With Funeral Practices and Services
Within this work package, we leverage the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) in order to assess the environmental and economic impacts associated with funeral practices and services. Their application helps funeral service providers and consumers make more informed decisions, aiming for a balance between ethical responsibility and financial feasibility.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a systematic method for evaluating the environmental impact of a product or service throughout its entire life cycle. In the context of funerary services, LCA can be used to analyze the environmental footprint of various funeral practices, including the materials used, transportation emissions, and the energy consumption of crematories or burial sites. This includes newly considered techniques such as resomation and humusation. By applying LCA, funeral homes can identify opportunities to reduce their carbon footprint, promote the use of eco-friendly materials and techniques, and adopt more sustainable practices.
Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) is used to assess the financial side of the sustainability issue. It allows the assessment of the total cost over the life cycle of a product or service, considering not just the initial purchase price, but also taking into account the operating, maintenance, and disposal costs. LCCA provides a comprehensive understanding of the financial implications of various funeral choices.
The combined use of LCA and LCCA provides a substantiated approach to sustainability of the funerary services, offering insights in both the environmental and economic impacts. This allows for a fully informed decision process when it comes to newly considered techniques and more convential funenary services alike. Funeral homes, funerary service providers, and consumers can then make choices that are both environmentally responsible and financially sound.
The researchers responsible for this work are part of B.Cycle (https://bcycle.be/). B.Cycle is the service platform of the EMIB research group. Their main activity is providing substantiated sustainability assessments, considering the impacts (environmental, economic, or both) of products, processes, or projects.
Work Package 2.2: Rethinking Funeral Ethics: A Care-Based Approach to Death and the Environment
The bioethical debate surrounding funeral practices remains dominated by an autonomy-based framework that assumes ethical decision-making is primarily a matter of individual choice. However, such a framework is ill-equipped to address the relational, social, ecological, and affective dimensions of death care. Autonomy-based models tend to treat these values as competing, requiring difficult trade-offs between individual rights and collective responsibilities. This framework struggles to fully account for the relational and emotional complexities of death, particularly in contexts where grieving individuals seek meaningful ways to honour their loved ones while also considering the broader social and ecological consequences of funeral choices. The ethical landscape of death care, particularly in relation to emerging sustainable funeral practices, requires a framework that moves beyond rigid principles toward a more integrated, responsive, and inclusive model. This research situates itself within this challenge, recognising that ethical decisions about how we care for our dead are primarily shaped by personal and collective networks of care and interdependence.
Care ethics provides an alternative framework, beginning from the premise that ethical life is structured by interdependence rather than autonomy, thereby situating ethical decision-making within relational and affective contexts. Applied to death care, this approach acknowledges that funeral practices are embedded within networks of care that extend across families, communities, and non-human ecosystems. The philosophical tradition of care ethics, developed by thinkers such as Nel Noddings and Joan Tronto, foregrounds responsibility and relationality, allowing us to better navigate the tensions between dignity, sustainability, and public health. María Puig de la Bellacasa extends this insight by arguing that care must encompass more-than-human worlds, positioning environmental responsibility not as an external constraint but as an intrinsic component of ethical life. This research challenges the assumption that ethical funeral choices must involve trade-offs between individual rights and collective responsibilities, instead demonstrating that these values can be integrated within a broader ethic of care that attends to the full relational complexity of death. By integrating insights from moral philosophy, bioethics, and environmental ethics, this research aims to demonstrate how sustainable funeral practices can function as an extension of relational care rather than a departure from it.