How does human composting work?

Human composting is the transformation of a human body into soil. Recompose places each body into a stainless steel vessel along with wood chips, alfalfa, and straw. Microbes that naturally occur on the plant material and on and in our bodies power the transformation into soil.

Over the next five to seven weeks, the body inside the vessel breaks down thanks to the natural action of the microbes. The soil is then removed from the vessel, screened for non-organic items such as hip replacements or stents, and allowed to cure for an additional three to five weeks.

Once the process is complete, the soil can be used on trees and plants, or donated to conservation efforts. Each body creates about one cubic yard of soil.

Watch Recompose Founder and CEO, Katrina Spade, describe how human composting works during her 2023 talk at the End Well Conference.

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Check out our infographic that shows the steps of the Recompose human composting process.