OceanUrn

The urn with a message, made from maritime marine debris

The seas and oceans are full of old fishing nets and plastic waste. Manufacturer of funeral coffins and funeral accessories Funico has that plastic waste turned into the OceanUrn, an ecological urn. It replaces the metal urn in which the ashes of your beloved deceased are taken to the funeral director.

Stijn Defever is the driving force behind the OceanUrn. "I was asked by the United Network of Public Crematoria to work out an eco-friendly alternative to metal urns. To get that done, I am working with a Danish company that fishes up waste such as discarded fishing nets, ropes and bins from the ocean. They grind that waste into plastic pellets, which we turn into the OceanUrn with our partner Beologic. Sea waste thus gets a second life as something very valuable: a precious memory of a loved one."

The production of the OceanUrn emits as much as 21 times less CO2 than that of metal urns. Funeral directors can return the OceanUrn to the crematorium after pouring the ashes into a decorative urn. This will be collected back by Funico, after which plastic granules will be made from it again to produce other products. The aim of this: not to turn waste into rubbish, but to reuse the raw materials in a circular process.

As a bereaved person, you can also ask the funeral director to take the OceanUrn home or place it in the columbarium. "This is how you commemorate your loved one in an environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible way. The urn connects your memory with sustainability."