New South Wales legalises “human composting” as several MPs say they will choose it
The Australian state of New South Wales has passed laws allowing human bodies to be turned into soil, a third legal option beside burial and cremation. Several MPs said they want the method for themselves.
The parliament of New South Wales (NSW), an Australian state, on Wednesday passed laws permitting “human composting”, an Australian first. It becomes a third legal way of dealing with a body, alongside burial and cremation. Several MPs have said they would like it used for their own remains.
The private member’s bill was introduced by independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, who travelled to Germany and the US to research the practice, which is allowed in parts of both countries.
How the process works
The method is known as natural organic reduction, terramation or human composting. A body is placed in a temperature-controlled vessel with organic matter such as alfalfa, straw or mulch. The vessel is turned or rocked to circulate air. The material reacts with the air and feeds microbes that naturally occur in the body, rapidly breaking it down.
The process generates heat, and after about 30 days the body becomes soil. After a further 30 days or so of resting, the vessel holds about 110kg of “dry, rich soil that is fertile and free of pathogens”, Greenwich told the lower house earlier this year.
What MPs said
In the upper house, Libertarian MP John Ruddick said he would likely put in his will a wish to be terramated, stressing that the choice would be voluntary. Labor MP Cameron Murphy said he looked forward to using the service in the long-distant future.
Liberal MP Susan Carter urged the government to consider how to ensure the dead are respected when implementing the law, saying terramation should not simply become a “human compost bin”.
Animal Justice MP Emma Hurst, who introduced the bill in the upper house, pointed to environmental benefits. She said it could avoid the need for large burial plots and can be wholly carbon neutral, whereas cremation, in her words, is energy intensive and releases substantial greenhouse gas emissions.
Next steps
The NSW government has 18 months to draw up regulations governing the practice, which will be limited to specialised facilities.
