Where human composting is legal

What it is

The body is placed in a vessel with wood chips, alfalfa and straw. Microbes reduce it to roughly a cubic yard of soil over four to seven weeks.

The legal name is what appears in statute: a bill legalising this method will say natural organic reduction, not human composting. If you are reading a bill or asking a funeral board, use the statutory term. The field guide explains the process; this page is only about where it is permitted.

Legal14 jurisdictions

In the order each legalised it, earliest first.

Bills live15 jurisdictions

A bill has been introduced but not enacted. Presence here is a fact about the legislature, not a forecast — most of these do not pass this session, and several states now in the legal table above took three or four attempts.

Not yet22 jurisdictions

No statute authorising the method and no bill currently tracked. This does not put the method out of reach: a body can lawfully be transported to a licensed facility in another state, and funeral homes arrange it routinely. It costs more and takes a few days longer.

How it got here

The earliest enactment on record is Washington, in 2019 — signed 21 May 2019. 13 further jurisdictions now authorise it. 15 more have bills live.

The most effective driver of state legislation on this is constituent testimony — legislators move when residents of their own district ask them to. If you want this legal where you live, your own state representative and senator are the people to write to.

Read next

• The human composting field guide
• All states
• Compare the methods
• The legislation field guide