A rigorous world-first study from the University of Technology, Sydney into whether cemeteries pollute the environment has given strong support to the way Australians bury their dead.

The four-year study by UTS environmental scientist and hydrogeologist, Mr Boyd Dent, found that while decaying human bodies in graveyards do produce a nutrient plume, it does not occur at significant enough levels to be correctly described as 'pollution'.

The focus of Mr Dent's research - carried out with $250,000 funding from industry partners - was to measure the environmental effects of naturally occurring groundwaters beneath cemeteries. His results are based on water samples from nine cemeteries in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.

"The result of the research is that cemeteries do not appear to be underlain by festering pools of human decay," Mr Dent said. "The research shows that cemetery decay processes are widely distributed in time and space, and the amount of decay products observed is small.

"This is good news for the environment, good news for cemeteries and good news for existing burial practices. On the balance of things, I think we can say that God got it right in terms of the 'dust to dust' concept."

The research produced a series of recommendations on how future cemetery development should be carried out, within comprehensive geoscientific guidelines.

While the research is good news for current burial practices, it also has broader implications for the issue of grave recycling. South Australia engages in the practice, but it has been resisted by the majority of Australian states and territories, including the heavily populated eastern states where graveyards are a significant land-user.

"The need to reuse graves is a major area of consideration," Mr Dent said. "In some countries it is done as a matter of course - in others it is completely frowned upon. In Australia, the issue is in a state of flux."