MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - An Australian burial company has a world patent for a polyethylene-lined crypt that overcomes some problems associated with traditional concrete structures. Melbourne-based Australian Advanced Burial Systems Pty. Ltd. has spent a year developing the DuroCrypt, in conjunction with Australian resin supplier BTR Nylex Ltd., and plans to export the crypts to North America and Europe.
Anthony Furrugia, AABS chief executive officer, said using the plastic crypt, which encloses a coffin and is within a marble mausoleum, means there is less cracking, leakage, odor and pest infestation than concrete alternatives.
He said there had been many cases of litigation, particularly in North America, by families upset when such problems occurred in concrete crypts.
Furrugia recently visited North America, where some communal mausoleums hold 20,000-30,000 crypts. He said there is plenty of interest in the DuroCrypt, which is cost-competitive with concrete.
Furrugia expects more than A$100 million (US$74.2 million) will be spent on communal mausoleums in Australia in the next five years following the lifting of a 40-year ban on mausoleums in cemeteries in Victoria, introduced after a mausoleum collapsed in the 1950s.
Demand is mainly from European migrants who reject cremation but favor above-ground burial, he said.