New research from the Greater South East Net Zero Hub and the Cremation Society of Great Britain has revealed that only one percent of UK cremators currently run on electricity, despite its potential to reduce carbon emissions by up to 90 percent compared to gas.
Memoria Funeral’s parent company, the Memoria Group, stands out as the leading operator of electric cremators in the UK. The company holds two of the UK’s three platinum Greener Globe accreditations, highlighting its strong environmental credentials.
The research has shed light on the significant difference in emissions between gas and electric cremation, which has been largely overlooked in the discussion of “green” funerals. While the focus has been on coffin materials and natural burials, data from the sector shows that the type of cremator used has the greatest impact on emissions.
According to the Greater South East Net Zero Hub’s Crematoria Decarbonisation Toolkit, published in November 2025, the vast majority (99 percent) of UK cremators are currently powered by natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas. This is significant as the Cremation Society of Great Britain reports that around 550,000 cremations take place in the UK each year.
The use of electric cremators, which run on green electricity tariffs, can reduce the carbon emissions of an individual cremation by 80 to 90 percent compared to a conventional gas-fired one. However, only one percent of UK cremators currently operate on electricity, according to the Crematoria Decarbonisation Toolkit. In contrast, Memoria’s own operational data shows that approximately 21 percent of the company’s cremators run on electricity, which is 21 times the national average.
The choice of coffin material also plays a role in the overall emissions of a cremation. While bamboo coffins are marketed as a renewable option, they are often manufactured in Asia and shipped to the UK, adding shipping emissions to the total. Banana leaf coffins can also pose operational challenges for crematorium equipment. Additionally, cardboard coffins can burn away too quickly, requiring the cremator to work harder to maintain the required temperature and potentially producing higher carbon emissions compared to a conventional wooden coffin.
In light of these findings, Steve Wallis, CEO of Memoria Funerals, commented, “After 30 years in the funeral sector, I’ve seen most of the ‘eco-friendly’ options families are offered. And while some of them have merit, their green credentials are more complicated than the marketing suggests. If you ask most people what the carbon footprint of a cremation is, chances are you’ll get a blank look. It usually isn’t something we tend to think about, even when we’re making careful environmental choices everywhere else in our lives.
“The point isn’t to make you feel guilty about a choice you’ve already made, or one you’re going to make. The point is that the conversation about green funerals is, frankly, a mess. Families want to do the right thing, but it isn’t always easy to work out how that should look in practice.
“We get one chance to arrange a funeral for someone we love. We can’t take it back, we can’t exchange it, and we can’t do it over again with better information. If the environmental impact matters to you, raise it early. Ask before you sign. The honest version of this conversation is more useful to families than the marketing one, and the funeral sector should be braver about having it.”
