New cardboard coffin designs being tested at crematorium

A Property Unit spokesman said the problem was the temperature at which the coffins were entered – known as charged – into the cremator meant that the type of cardboard coffin previously tested caught fire very quickly.

‘Additionally, the cardboard coffins that have previously been offered for testing have not been particularly rigid and have required additional support to prevent the coffins from flexing during the charging process,’ he said.

But efforts were being made to find a solution.

‘Significant improvements have been made in the design of cardboard coffins recently and agreement has been reached with a local funeral director in the last few weeks to test one of the latest designs.’

Jai Vaudin of Vaudin Funeral Services said he was involved with the tests.

‘They were igniting before they could be charged in,’ he said.

The Property Unit spokesman said this was a risk to staff and the facility.

‘A decision on whether to accept a cardboard coffin for burial would be taken based on the particular type of coffin chosen and the testing standards that the coffin had achieved,’ he said.

Funeral director Gary Vaudin of Argent Funeral Care said that few people requested cardboard caskets, but now MDF was being recommended. These were a couple of hundred pounds more expensive, but were still cheaper than a wooden coffin and could still have designs printed on them.

However, he still had a lot of old-style cardboard coffins in stock.

‘We’ve got about 60 of them in the warehouse which we now can’t use,’ he said.