Roselawn Cemetery and Crematorium, outside Belfast
Almost two tonnes of metal has been collected from the ashes of cremated bodies in Northern Ireland over the last four years as part of a recycling scheme, but bereaved families were not told, The Detail can reveal.
Precious metals including jewellery, gold teeth and fillings, as well as metal hips and nails from coffins are routinely collected from the site of Northern Ireland’s only crematorium in a process that began in 2010.
The materials are shipped to the Netherlands where a specialist company sorts the metals, with some being re-used in the construction of objects as diverse as road signs and aircraft engines.
Recycled material, it’s all relative.™