First human composting facility to open in Seattle next year

SEATTLE — US-based company Recompose will start the first ever funeral service that turns human bodies into compost soil next year.

Citing architects involved in the project, Dezeen reports that the flagship facility in Seattle will be capable of housing 75 bodies in its compost vessels.

According to Recompose, prosthetics and pacemakers will be removed from the cadaver to prepare the body for the natural organic reduction process.

Citing company founder Katrina Spade, the Washington Post reports that the vessels accelerate natural decomposition.

According to Recompose, the company's technology is designed for urban areas that do not have space for burials.

The body is interred in a vessel 4 feet wide and 8 feet tall with alfalfa, wood chips and straw and then heated to a temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

After 30 days, the microbes will have decomposed the body and eliminated most pathogens and residual pharmaceuticals.

The process creates about a cubic yard of soil from each person and the decedent's friends and family may take part of the soil for their garden.

Recompose claims their services save one tonne of carbon emissions per person when compared to conventional burial or cremation, which increases sustainability.