Macabre Questions

Ruud Verberne (right) is the first to admit that he can be a real downer at parties.

“You tell people what you do,” he says, “and they think…well, that’s a bit strange.”

Okay, maybe he has a point. The first time I heard about OrthoMetals, the company Verberne co-founded, I too did a double-take. After all, this is the company that recycles the metal parts left over after cremations. We’re talking things like steel pins, titanium hips and cobalt-chrome knees. But that’s just from the bodies.

The company also recycles most of the metal parts from the caskets (including the screws). Although it may sound macabre at first, Verbene says, “after people come here and see what we do, they think it’s a good thing.” The company, after taking its cut, gives 70 to 75% of what it earns off the sale of the metals back to the crematoria, which then use it for charitable purposes.

This kind of recycling is definitely a growth industry (OrthoMetals recycles 250 tons a year). On the one hand, more and more people are getting implants. On the other, more and more people are choosing cremation. In Verberne’s native Holland, some 55% of all bodies are cremated. In Britain, more than 75%. And since the Catholic Church eased its opposition to cremation, the company has seen major growth in places such as Italy, Spain and parts of the United States.

One thing Verberne likes to make very clear to visitors is that the parts are recycled, not reused. These metal pieces do not end up in other bodies. Rather, they are melted down and resold for industrial purposes.

My immediate reaction was to ask if putting someone else’s metal hip in a new person was just a mental bridge too far. But Verberne said no. “You know, it happens with human hearts, and lungs, and everything else.”

Instead, it’s a question of liability. Who would be responsible if, say, a used artificial hip somehow malfunctioned? OrthoMetals? The original manufacturer? The orthopedic surgeon who put in the used one? You get the idea.

I also had to ask another slightly grim business-related question: how hard is it to separate out the metal from everything else after the cremation?

“When the body comes out of the crematory, you will immediately see the big metal pieces. The crematory staff will throw them in our container. They’ll also find more metals from the coffin, or small pieces from whatever was in their pockets, like coins or watches. And then the bones that remain are crushed into dust.”

In fact, one little telling detail that I could not get into my radio piece came right at the end of my visit to OrthoMetals. Verberne had shown me huge plastic containers full of metal hips and knees, and he was telling me about how did not expect new types of burials, or new types of implants, to affect the business that much in the coming years.

“My partner and I, our kids are continuing the business, and they’ll figure out their own ideas about how to develop this in the future.”

And then he pointed out another container, full of name plates from coffins and urns that were now ready to be recycled.

One small plate near the top simply read, “In Loving Memory of Dad.”