Scotland: hydrolysis as an alternative option to burial or cremation

The Scottish Government laid the Hydrolysis (Scotland) (No. 1) Regulations 2026 and the Hydrolysis (Scotland) (No. 2) Regulations 2026 in the Scottish Parliament on 3 December. The Regulations will enable hydrolysis to be offered as an alternative option to burial or cremation. The timetable for evidence sessions on the draft Regulations will be set by the Scottish Parliament and, if approved, the Regulations will come into force on 2 March 2026.

In the roundup on 12 May 2024, we provided a link to a paper by Georgina Robinson in The Conversation: Water cremation: sustainable body disposal is coming to Scotland – here are the benefits, which reviews alkaline hydrolysis and notes that following the 2023 public consultation, the Scottish Government announced plans to introduce regulations that would permit the use of alkaline hydrolysis.