The Green Mortician, Singapore’s first water cremation service, has opened for business.
To continue watching, subscribe to Eco‑Business.
There's something for everyone. We offer a range of subscription plans.
- Access our stories and receive our Insights Weekly newsletter with the free EB Member plan.
- Unlock unlimited access to our content and archive with EB Circle.
- Publish your content with EB Premium.
Founded by former renewable energy consultant Yang Loo and wildlife rescuer Joe Kam, the new cremation business offers mourners an environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional ways of processing their dead pets.
Loo and Kam struck up a business partnership after Loo read an article on Eco-Business about Kam’s plan to launch a water cremation service in Singapore.
Water cremation, or alkaline hydrolosis as it is known scientifically, mimics the natural decomposition process that occurs after an animal is buried, using a heated solution of water and alkaline salts to break the corpse down.
Water cremation has the lowest carbon footprint of any funeral option, including burial, according to a death-to-decay lifecycle analysis.
Kam and Loo hope that the effluent biproduct of the process can be reused as fertiliser as it is high in nutrients.
The duo eventually want to use the technology to cremate human bodies, once the process has gained broader acceptance in Singapore.
Video production by Roy Ng
