Luc de Haan is working with other former colleagues of chemical company DSM, and seven German engineers, on a safer and faster Alka Eco Liquification process. At the trade fair in Gorinchem there was a prototype of his alkaline hydrolysis system. De Haan expects to test in Germany this spring.
He turns 66 this year, but he has no plans to retire in the next 20 years. “I work 7 days a week, 20 hours a day,” says former DSM employee Luc de Haan via Whatsapp from the Philippines, where he visits an orphanage for a colleague’s food project. De Haan now lives in Thailand because of his fibromyalgia. As an engineer, he worked for more than 35 years at the South Limburg chemical company and nowadays, together with a number of other former colleagues, he uses his knowledge for all kinds of social goals. His activities are versatile, for example, De Haan is working on a chemical installation for defusing synthetic drugs, without harmful emissions. But also, to what he considers to be the ‘most environmentally friendly form of funeral delivery’: Alka Eco Liquification.
You reuse the water and consider using the effluent as fertilizer. How does that work?
“We think we can reuse the effluent about three to four times. We supply the entire installation, including the system to cool the used water – about 1200 liters per alkaline hydrolysis – and clean it into an effluent that complies with the regulations to be allowed to discharge safely. We are working on a production line to usefully use the effluent as an organic fertilizer, as is already happening in some states in the United States. This makes the process a lot more efficient and results in substantial savings. Moreover, our method works faster. A body dissolves in two hours, whereas in the other installations it takes about three to four hours. It will also have advantages for the Dutch market that we will soon have done a pilot in Europe, within European regulations, and that we will build the installations in Germany.
We think we can reuse the effluent about 3 to 4 times
With us you not only purchase installation, we also take care of the maintenance, supply the chemicals and training of the staff. Because only then can we guarantee that work is done safely. After all, we work with corrosive and aggressive substances and under high pressure and high temperature.”
Is your installation already in operation somewhere?
“In Asia, we built a test installation years ago in which we found that the environmental calculations from the Lab study from 2014 are correct. We can therefore reassure Minister Hanke Bruins Slot: Alka Eco Liquification is safe and is the most environmentally friendly method of funeral delivery. In April-May we expect to start with an installation in Germany. We will have this investigated by various international universities, including TU Delft. Our team includes not only technicians, but also medics and biologists. We think it could happen quickly after that.”
Alka Eco Liquification
Alka Eco Liquification, as the government calls the technical process of dissolving bodies in an alkaline liquid (water and 5 percent potassium hydroxide) is allowed in Canada, Australia, South Africa, some U.S. states and recently also in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In the Netherlands, the wait for the amendment of the Funeral Services Act has been postponed to 2024.
However, in the Netherlands with a research permit – under low pressure – for pets it’s used Alka Eco Liquification already. The alkaline hydrolysis process then takes about twenty hours.
AlkaEco exists from 2021, CEO is Maria Clemente.
Marjon Weijzen is a journalist, teacher, and editor-in-chief of Brancheblad Uitvaartzorg. She specializes in life stories, farewells, funerals, and sustainability.
Author of this original article is Marjon Weijzen. The original article can be found here De kennis van DSM inzetten voor resomeren
