Asahi: Municipalities reap wealth from cremated remains of the dead
Several municipalities have been reaping profits from precious metals, including gold, silver and palladium, sifted from the ashes of the cremated dead, The Asahi Shimbun has learned. Few bereaved families know about the practice at public-run crematoriums. Many municipalities put the profits from the metals, which come from capped teeth, artificial bones and other parts, into their coffers. Some sell the residual ashes left behind after the mourners have completed the ritual of packing the deceased's bones into an urn. Some cities say they earn millions of yen a year from metals found in the ashes...The Asahi Shimbun asked officials of 20 major cities about the practice. Tokyo and Nagoya said they collect and sell precious metals taken from the remains. Niigata, Maebashi and Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, said they sell residual ashes and bone fragments...The Tokyo metropolitan government collected 700 grams of gold, 500 grams of palladium and 1.9 kilograms of silver from cremated remains in fiscal 2007, and turned a profit of about 3.2 million yen, officials said. The metropolitan government also pocketed about 90,000 yen worth of coins that were placed in the coffins before cremation. An official at a metropolitan crematorium in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward said mourners sometimes ask about the final destination of the ashes, but officials do not go out of their way to provide an explanation. Nagoya, which has one of the largest crematoriums in the country, collected 12 kilograms of gold, silver, platinum, palladium and other precious metals worth 10.19 million yen in fiscal 2007, officials said...It "would be a waste if we didn't collect (the metals)," a Nagoya official said...Other municipalities contacted by The Asahi Shimbun said they do not retrieve or sell precious metals from the remains. Officials in Kita-Kyushu said they ended the practice after fiscal 1991, following complaints from residents that "profiting from human bodies is disrespectful"...more...

Since titanium is used in hip replacements, acl reconstruction, etc, I would suspect they would find some of that, too.