Human composting facility begins operations

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In Seattle, the world’s first human composting facility has begun operations, although it is unclear if it has had any “customers” yet.  

Dubbed Recompose, the process uses “Recomposition Vessels” to turn human remains into soil that family can collect and use in their own gardens. 

For $5,400, remains are covered with biomass, including wood chips, alfalfa, and straw grass under aeration to promote decomposition by microbes and bacteria. 

The average human can be converted into a square meter of soil—approximately seven wheelbarrows—in a month. The process also creates less carbon dioxide and requires far less energy than cremation. 

Recompose is just the latest offering for green burials. Italian designers Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel created a pod that uses a decomposing body to grow a tree. Another option, Leaves With You, is comprised of a biodegradable coffin made from macrame that is made by mourning family and friends and is infused with fungus to speed up decomposition.