We love your enthusiasm! We don’t know. The first thing that has to happen is that the legislation must be passed by both houses of the NSW Parliament. We hope that can happen in the second half of 2026. Then we need to find seed money to develop our transformation vessel, conduct animal trials then human trials and share results with the NSW government, comply with regulations (which will take them 12-18 months to create), find and fit out our first location in the Greater Sydney area initially, raise more money to fabricate a good number of transformation vessels and then open our doors to our first customers!!

There’s a lot to do. If you think you can contribute to helping us in any way at all, please contact us on info@earthlylegacy.com.au. We need money, a facility in a light industrial area, volunteer assistance, legal and accounting help, trades, values-aligned funeral professionals, vehicles… email us! We’ll be all set up to receive donations in July, 2026.

In the USA, the process of composting a human body is commonly referred to as ‘terramation’, ‘natural organic reduction’ or NOR’. ‘Natural organic reduction’ is the scientific term that describes the natural process of decomposition of a human body after death and is often used in legislation written in English.

Human composting works by placing a body in a specially-designed, above-ground vessel (located inside an approved facility) with a mixture of carbon-rich organic material, such as straw, lucerne and woodchips/sawdust – known as ‘compostables’ - to create an environment that allows the body’s naturally-occurring microorganisms to break the body down at an accelerated rate.

The organic materials give the body’s microorganisms energy to start the process, while airflow and the right pH and moisture levels help maintain the conditions needed to accelerate the process, which starts as soon as the vessel is closed. Temperature, moisture and oxygen are continuously monitored and further controlled by rocking, rotating or aerating the vessel at appropriate times throughout the process. 

As the body’s microorganisms break down the body, they generate heat, reaching over 55 degrees Celsius. After about 30-40 days, the body has transformed into nutrient-rich compost. As with cremation, not all bones break down, so they are removed, crushed and returned to the vessel with the rest of the compost.

The compost is then “cured” for around 30 days, during which time it naturally cools and stabilises, and the crushed bone is absorbed.

The final product that is returned to families is technically called ‘soil amendment’. In the USA, where this process was first introduced in 2020, they call the output ‘soil’ while the process is called either ‘terramation or ‘natural organic reduction’ or ‘NOR’.

Soil is a complex, naturally occurring mixture of minerals (sand, silt and clay), organic matter, air, water and living organisms. It is the primary physical foundation and structural support for plants.

Compost is a specific type of organic matter that has undergone controlled aerobic decomposition. It is made from a combination of green and brown materials (nitrogen- and carbon-rich, respectively) and other organic materials, such as the human body, that transform into a crumbly, brown, soil-like end-product under the right conditions. Bacteria, fungi and microorganisms work together to break the materials down. The end-product is a rich source of slow-release nutrients that can be mixed into existing soil to boost fertility, improve water retention and enhance aeration.

Battery-operated devices are removed before the body is placed in the vessel, which is the same practice that occurs before cremation. Other devices and implants such as fillings and artificial joints are extracted at the end of the first process, before the soil is left to cure. All metal is recycled.

The duration of human body composting varies depending on the system being used, the conditions inside the vessel, and the size and shape of the individual. As a general range, the process takes 30 to 90 days per person from placement to the return of finished product.

The process produces about 110 kilograms (one cubic metre) of dry, nutrient-rich compost per adult. The compost is dark, earthy-smelling and visually indistinguishable from high-quality garden compost. It contains no human DNA or pathogens. Families can choose to receive all or part of the soil, often packaged in smaller bags. Many people use the compost to mix into the existing soil before planting a tree; while some distribute it among family and friends.

Earthly Legacy expects to find suitable partners who will receive surplus compost that will be used to regenerate degraded land or aid reforestation projects.

The high temperatures reached during the transformation process are sufficient to eliminate all human DNA and pathogens, including common bacteria, viruses and parasites. Facilities would be required to show that time and temperature thresholds have been met during the composting process and that the soil is tested before leaving the facility.

Soil from human composting trials in Germany has undergone extensive peer-reviewed scientific analysis that found that the levels of pathogens, heavy metals, chemicals and medical residue are safe and pose no concern, meeting or exceeding standards for landscaping and gardening.

If a person dies with/from a highly infectious disease, NSW Public Health regulations will determine if they can be composted. Examples that will likely be disallowed include viral haemorrhagic diseases like Ebola; Prion diseases like Kreutzfeld-Jacob Disease (Mad Cow); Anthrax, Plague, Smallpox and Tuberculosis.

The compost can be used in the same way that ordinary compost can, once government approval of the provider’s process meets requirements. However, some jurisdictions overseas place restrictions on where the compost can be used. For example, in many states in the USA, compost cannot be used to grow crops in ground fertilised by human compost, but it is permitted for use to improve the fertility of grazing lands. Once legislation passes the NSW Parliament, the NSW government will be able to introduce any restrictions it deems appropriate through regulations in New South Wales.

Earthly Legacy is still developing the transformation vessel it will use, so the financial cost of composting a body cannot yet be calculated. Pricing for composting services will be determined in the next 12 months.

Burials and cremations can include the typical funeral costs like a funeral director, transport, death certificate, celebrant or clergy, flowers, newspaper notice, and wake.

However, unlike cremation and burial, human body composting does not require a coffin. Coffins are one of the biggest funeral costs – on average they cost around $2,500 but the price can be in the tens of thousands.

High burial costs are avoided in human body composting because there is no need to purchase a plot, site preparation and ground restoration services, or items like plot liners and headstones. A very basic burial in Sydney costs around $17,000 but it can reach over $22,000.

The price for human composting will depend on providers, but the experience in the U.S. shows costs would be well below burial and below or equivalent to cremation.

Both burial and cremation have heavy environmental costs. Estimates in the USA vary, but Recompose says that composting a human body prevents one tonne of carbon emissions per composted person. That’s the same carbon cost as driving a petrol-powered car Melbourne to Perth.  

A single cremation consumes enough natural gas to power a typical household for a month, emitting between 160 and 400 kilograms of climate-change-driving carbon dioxide, and releasing fine particulate matter and other airborne pollution.

Burial locks up high-value urban land that must be maintained in or near perpetuity. The need for new land for this purpose continues. Formaldehyde in embalmed and buried bodies can leach into soil over time and pose health risks to workers during the embalming process.

Coffins use resources like timber but can also be covered in chemicals like varnish which then are buried or burned.

Human composting avoids all these environmental costs. Furthermore, if providers follow the German example of not using woodchips, chemical compost accelerators and non-renewable heat, human composting can be genuinely carbon neutral.

The compost produced can help replenish eroded soil by slowly releasing its nutrients, boosting soil fertility, improving water retention and enhancing aeration, making the process environmentally positive.

Existing laws only provide for burial and cremation, but some people would prefer a greener, less expensive and more natural form of body disposition.

Alex Greenwich MP, who is sponsoring the legislation in New South Wales to allow human composting says, ‘Laws should not block new disposition options available in other jurisdictions if they are safe, sustainable and protect dignity’.

Human body composting is legal in 14 states in the U.S. and in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The UK Law Commission is inquiring into human composting in its assessment of “new funerary methods”, which is due to report soon.

Both the ACT and Tasmania have passed enabling legislation that could allow human composting, as they have recently updated and broadened the definition of ‘cremation’ to include the words, ‘and other innovative technologies.’ However, no regulatory steps have been taken in either jurisdiction. NSW will be the first state or territory in Australia to pass legislation and create regulations that allow composting of human bodies.