{{Short description|Method of corpse disposal}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{more citations needed|date=August 2018}}
'''Promession''' is an idea of how to dispose human remains by way of freeze drying. The concept of promession was developed by Swedish biologist Susanne Wiigh-Mäsak, who derived the name from the Italian word for "promise" (''promessa'').<ref name=holst>{{cite news|last=Holst|first=Karen|title=Swedish green-burial firm to turn frozen corpses in compost|url=http://www.thelocal.se/33178/20110413/|access-date=26 September 2012|date=13 April 2011}}</ref> She founded Promessa Organic AB in 1997 to commercially pursue her idea.<ref name=undertaker>{{cite news|last=McNally|first=Patrick|title=Promession: A Return to the Living Soil|url=http://www.dailyundertaker.com/2008/09/promession-return-to-living-soil.html|access-date=26 September 2012|newspaper=Daily Undertaker|date=30 September 2008}}</ref> The company went bankrupt in 2015 without being able to produce a functioning facility.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.bohuslaningen.se/nyheter/orust/promessa-slutligen-i-konkurs-1.925619|title=Promessa slutligen i konkurs|work=Bohusläningen|access-date=12 September 2018|language=sv}}</ref> Critics questioned the technical feasibility of the process.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Shorman |first=Andreas |date=30 June 2010 |title=Frozen, vibrated, buried? It's not cremation, says Kansas AG |url=https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article237888864.html#:~:text=Frozen%2C%20vibrated%2C%20buried?,which%20are%20then%20freeze%2Ddried. |access-date=November 29, 2019 |newspaper=Witchita Eagle |language=English}}</ref>
==Process== {{unreferenced section|date=August 2018}} The idea of promession involves five steps: # Coffin separation: the body is placed into the chamber # Cryogenic freezing: liquid nitrogen at −196 °C crystallizes the body # Vibration: the body is disintegrated into particles within minutes # Freeze drying: particles are freeze dried in a drying chamber, leaving approximately 30% of the original weight # Metal separation: any metals (e.g., tooth amalgam, artificial hips, etc.) are removed, either by magnetism or by sieving. The dry powder is placed in a biodegradable casket which is interred in the top layers of soil, where aerobic bacteria decompose the remains into humus in as little as 6–12 months.
== Criticism == Promession as a functional method is questioned. No facility for promession has been built or put into service. Critics argue that there is a physical<ref>{{Cite book|title=Hej då! : begravningsboken|author=Möller, Lotte|date=2011|publisher=Arena|isbn=9789178433612|location=Malmö|oclc=760982426}}</ref> impossibility to atomize a freeze dried human body in this way.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.ostran.se/nyheter/kalmar/promession_fungerar_inte |title=- Promession fungerar inte / Kalmar / NYHETER / ÖSTRAN / Östra Smålan… |date=25 May 2012 |work= |access-date=12 September 2018 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120525113929/http://www.ostran.se/nyheter/kalmar/promession_fungerar_inte |archive-date=25 May 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Current status== Promessa Organic AB was liquidated in 2015 without constructing a facility.<ref name=":0" />
==See also== * Alkaline hydrolysis (death custom) * Natural burial
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.promessa.se Promessa website]
{{Death}}
Category:Death customs Category:Biodegradable waste management Category:1997 introductions