The invention relates to a burial coffin for burying and/or cremating a body .

Burial coffins for burying and/or cremating a body are per se known . Such burial coffins are generally manufactured from straight and/or optionally curved wooden planks and other building materials, such as plywood and fibreboard. These building materials are assembled using for instance nails, screws , plugs and/or glue to form the burial coffin .

A drawback of the known burial coffin is that, both in the ground and when the burial coffin is incinerated, it represents an impact on the environment in that harmful components, such as for instance glue, are released.

The invention has for its obj ect to provide a solution to the stated problem.

This is achieved with the invention by providing a burial coffin, wherein at least the base and standing side walls of the burial coffin are manufactured from a biologically degradable material comprising polylactic acid . Because polylactic acid is completely biologically degradable, no harmful residues will remain behind or be released when such a burial coffin is used.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the cover of the burial coffin, the possible ornaments, the fittings and the handles are likewise manufactured from the biologically degradable material . In this way the coffin is therefore manufactured entirely from the environmentally-friendly material .

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the content of polylactic acid in the biologically degradable material lies between 50 and 95% by weight . The content of polylactic acid

preferably lies between 60 and 90% by weight, and more preferably between 65 and 75% by weight .

In a further preferred embodiment, the biologically degradable material further comprises starch . Starch is also a cost-effective, biologically degradable and environmentally- friendly component . Starch has the property that it degrades more rapidly than polylactic acid. The consequence hereof is that, due to the presence of this dispersed, rapidly decomposing component, a more rapid disintegration of the burial coffin is realized in the ground than would be the case without the presence of starch.

The content of starch preferably lies between 10 and 40% by weight, more preferably between 15 and 35% by weight, and most preferably between 20 and 30% by weight .

The biologically degradable material preferably further comprises one or more additional polymers and/or copolymers . Particularly suitable is a copolymer of butanediol , adipic acid and terephthalic acid. This additive brings about an improvement in the impact resistance, or reduction in brittleness .

The content of aliphatic-aromatic (co) polymer material preferably lies between 1 and 25% by weight, more preferably between 3 and 20% by weight, most preferably between 5 and 15% by weight .

According to the invention it has been found, surprisingly, that a particularly suitable material for manufacturing a burial coffin consists of the three said components . In a preferred embodiment the burial coffin is therefore manufactured from a material comprising 65-75% by weight polylactic acid, 5-15% by weight of a copolymer of butanediol, adipic acid and terephthalic acid, and 20-30% by

weight of chemically non-modified starch . The burial coffin according to the invention is in this way manufactured from completely biologically degradable and compostable components in accordance with European standards (EN 13432 ) .

It will be understood that the material of the burial coffin may optionally contain small quantities of other additives, such as fillers or other (organic) additives .

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, an outer and/or inner surface of the burial coffin is provided with a print formed by a relief, for instance a print with a structure of a woodgrain . The burial coffin thus acquires for instance the appearance of a burial coffin made of wood.

De invention is in no way limited to the above outlined embodiments . It is for instance possible to provide the burial coffin with a coating, for instance on water basis, optionally coloured and/or transparent . It is also possible to envisage applying other types of additive . Such variants are each deemed to fall within the scope of the invention .

The burial coffin according to the invention can be manufactured using thermo-mechanical processing, such as for instance inj ection moulding or compression moulding . Inj ection moulding takes place at increased temperatures on conventional inj ection moulding machines (temperature >150 ^° C) in a manner such that the basic materials become deformable under the influence of pressure, temperature and mechanical load.

Inj ection moulding can be combined with so-called ^Λ in mould labeling' , whereby the appearance of the coffin can be modified in very flexible manner to the wishes of relatives .

The manufacture of a burial coffin using inj ection moulding results in saving of work because forming takes place in one operation . There is furthermore the possibility of

incorporating cooling channels in the design so that the coffin, making use of an external cooling unit, is more suitable for laying out the deceased without decomposition occurring prematurely.

In the base of the coffin use can further be made of superabsorbers to absorb bodily fluid.

The coffin results in weight reduction through the use of structurally strong constructions (including honeycomb structure) , which is important, among other reasons , in respect of working conditions legislation, material-saving and reduction of logging.