Death knell for wooden coffins?

The decline of hardwood reserves worldwide, amidst a growing concern for the better management of limited natural resources, could mean the demise of the traditional wooden coffin. "Would you spend £900 to £1,000 on a sideboard, keep it for two days, and then bury it or set it alight?" asks Keith Massey, of Rom Massey and Sons, Undertakers. Essentially, this is what happens when we bury our dead in expensive wooden coffins. The cardboard coffin, retailing at £90, is a cheaper alternative and also makes environmental sense.

But it's not without certain complications. "Older cemeteries won't accept cardboard coffins for burial due to grave management difficulties," explains Keith Massey. "And the crematorium [Glasnevin] won't take them for technical reasons."

Against this background, the cardboard coffin might appear to be a non-starter. "Cardboard coffins come in one size that fits all," explains George McCullough, manager of Glasnevin cemetery. Measuring in at two and a half feet wide, cardboard coffins are six inches wider than the standard grave. If allowances are made for the larger dimensions, only two cardboard coffins would fit into a grave. Normally three to four wooden coffins would fit, over a period of time, in a grave. "So what appears an economy for the punter is false for the grave-digger," says McCullough. And often, digging wider graves is not an option because of limited land space. Glasnevin crematorium conforms to (EU) guideline PG5 governing emissions from crematoria; and the cemetery confirms its non-acceptance of cardboard coffins for cremation. "They burn too quickly and give off too much smoke," explains McCullough. "It's because they're lined with plastic."

The traditional wooden coffin assists in the cremation of a body. Oven temperatures reach an average 850 degrees C, and it normally takes approximately one hour and 10 minutes to complete. Because cardboard coffins burn too quickly it can take longer to complete cremation. But all is not lost. Ireland's second crematorium - due to open later this month at Mount Jerome, in Harold's Cross, Dublin - will accept cardboard coffins for cremation. The new crematorium will be run by Alan Massey, a brother of Keith Massey. It is understood the technical difficulties experienced at Glasnevin will not be a problem for the Mount Jerome Crematorium.

While cremation grows in popularity - one in eight people in Dublin, as opposed to one in a hundred people nationwide are now cremated - questions of taste and respect may have a role to play in how quickly the cardboard coffin catches on. George McCullough likens cardboard coffins to "glorified Corn Flake boxes". He also claims "It's disrespectful to put relatives in them for their last journey". Anita Roddick, of Bodyshop fame, disagrees with McCullough. "Putting large amounts of money into hugely expensive coffins, usually a cask made of precious wood, mahogany, is a total waste of time and money," says Ms Roddick. She said in E's Liveline in a recent RTE interview that she would prefer to be wrapped in cloth or put into a cardboard coffin when she dies. "People will opt for the cardbaord coffin out of a principle of saving money," claims Keith Massey.

The traditional funeral carries an average price tag of £2,000. Of this sum, the biggest mark-up is on coffins. A straw poll of coffin makers failed to establish the precise wholesale cost of a coffin. Answers ranged from: "That's a matter for the undertakers", through: "There's nobody here to give that information", to "It's a trade secret".

"The typical mark-up on a coffin is 50 per cent," confirms Massey. But when people spend large amounts of money on wooden coffin, do they get value for money? Do they get what they pay for? Not according to an industry source, who formerly supplied woodworking machinery to coffin manufacturers, "I'd say in the region of 50 per cent to 70 per cent of coffins today are made of MDF," claims the source. "And the `brass' handles are plastic." George McCullough agrees. "We remove the plastic handles before cremation." MDF coffins are finished in a wood-look veneer. A carpenter, stunned to discover his father - a master joiner - was buried in an MDF coffin, says an eight foot by six sheet of 25mm MDF retails for under £30 inclusive of VAT. Clearly, the low manufacturing overheads in coffin production, aided by the use of "inferior" materials, are not being passed on to the grieving public. And what about noxious fumes when MDF is incinerated?

"MDF coffins used for cremation are made from water-based solvents," says George McCullough. "This reduces the fumes emitted during cremation." But as competition heats up on the crematoria front, it appears the cardboard coffin may have a future after all. And funeral prices may also come down.