Mansfield and District Crematorium recycling scheme raises £11,600 for hospice

Each year the crematorium donates money it receives from metal recovered from cremations where bereaved families have given permission for it to be sent for recycling.

The crematorium is administered by Mansfield District Council and managed and operated by a joint committee comprising representatives from Mansfield, Ashfield and Newark and Sherwood district councils who take it in turns to decide which charity should benefit from the scheme.

This year it was the turn of Mansfield District Council to donate the proceeds of the scheme and a cheque has been presented to the Sir John Eastwood Hospice which is next to King's Mill Hospital in Sutton in Ashfield.

The crematorium signed up to be part of the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management’s (ICCM) Recycling of Metals Scheme in 2011.

A specialist company is used by the crematorium to sort the metals collected. Proceeds collected nationally from the scheme are then divided among crematoria who have signed up to the scheme.

Crematorium and Cemeteries Manager and Registrar Nada Colclough explained: "When someone is cremated, the remains often contain various metals.

“They come from the coffin and also from replacement hip and knee joints. Some of this high grade cobalt steel is quite valuable in terms of recycling and can be made into new orthopaedic implants.

"We always ensure that any metal from cremated remains is sent for recycling only if we have the written consent of relatives prior to a cremation."

Cllr Andy Burgin, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Environment, said: "This type of recycling means that these metals do not end up buried in the ground and instead go to a useful purpose as well as helping local charities. Most families give their consent for metals to be recycled from their loved one’s remains and we never recycle metal from remains where consent has not been approved.”