5.C.1.b v - Cremation

Emissions from cremation are not a key source and of minor priority. Since March 1997, a national legal ordinance for cremation plants nationwide is in force (27. BImSchV).

Activity data for this category are based on data from the statistics of the “Bundesverband Deutscher Bestatter e.V.”¹⁾. For purposes of GHG reporting we specify cremations as masses, too. The cremation is a growing trend in funerals.

Table 1: Annual amount of cremated human bodies, in [kt]

Emission factors used are default values from the EMEP/EEA air pollutant emission inventory guidebook 2023 as well as national data for POPs from the research project “POP- und Hg-Emissionen aus abfallwirtschaftlichen Anlagen” - Teilvorhaben zum Globalvorhaben „Überprüfung des Standes der Technik der Emissionen prioritärer Schadstoffe für einzelne Industriebranchen (Kleinfeuerungsanlagen und abfallwirtschaftliche Anlagen)“ ²⁾ .

In 2018, the TERT noted that the German emission factor for Hg is 100 times smaller than the default value proposed in the 2016 EMEP/EEA Guidebook and the emission factors for Cd and Pb being 1,000 times smaller than the proposed default values. The EF set has now been updated.

In contrast, the country-specific emission factor for Hg was calculated on the basis of the German report on “OSPAR Recommendation 2003/4 on controlling the dispersal of mercury from crematoria“ - and was revised after the finalization of the research project „Umweltrelevanz und Stand der Technik bei Einäscherungsanlagen“ (Environmental relevance and state of the art for cremation plants) ³⁾. As part of this research project, emission measurements were carried out at six cremation routes. According to OSPAR reporting 2010/2014, approx. 90% of the plants have effective Hg mitigation technology, whereas approx. 10% are not equipped. This ratio is roughly reflected in the 2020 project report, too. Since the cremation duration is approximately one hour, the mean value per hour corresponds to the Hg load per cremation and is used accordingly for inventory calculation.

As developement of state of the art, values are interpolated between 2010 and 2018 (from 0,0913 g/cremation to 0,0447 g/cremation). This time span represents a real retrofit of the crematoria.

In 2025, we carried out a complete review of the emission factor (EF) references. This work resulted in a few minor changes to the time series, but most importantly, all time points are now referenced. The emission factors for Pb and Cd have been set to default values ⁴⁾ due to a lack of country specific references.

Emission factors for TSP, PM₁₀, and PM_2.5 derive from the research study “Studie zur Korngrößenverteilung (PM₁₀ und PM_2.5) von Staubemissionen”⁵⁾.

Most emission trends are the result of the increasing trend of AD, partly with decreasing EF at the same time. As result even the trend for Hg emissions is decreasing for a temporary period.

Emission trends in NFR 5.C.1.b.v

In addition to a number of marginal changes in the time series for several pollutants, there were significant changes in Pb and Cd. The increase over time is due to the replacement of decreasing EF with constant default values.

Recalculations for Cremation