What Is Human Composting? Where It's Legal, What It Costs, and How It Compares to Cremation
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Time to read 12 min
Table of contents
Quick Answers: What is human composting, and is it the same as Natural Organic Reduction? How does the process work, and what does a family receive? Where is it legal in the United States? Is human composting legal in Indiana or Kentucky? Indiana Kentucky Why isn't it legal in most states? What is the Catholic Church's position on human composting? What does human composting cost? What happens to the bones? How is it different from cremation? Frequently Asked Questions About Human Composting
Quick Answers:
What is human composting, and is it the same as Natural Organic Reduction?
Human composting is a way of caring for a body after death that turns it into soil, using natural materials like wood chips and straw inside a sealed vessel with controlled heat and airflow. The regulatory and scientific name is Natural Organic Reduction (NOR). It is currently legal in 14 states, though not in Indiana or Kentucky, and it is not a type of cremation.
The short version:
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It has several names, but they mean the same thing. "Natural Organic Reduction" is the legal term. "Human composting" and "body composting" are what most people search and say. Provider brand names like "recomposition," "terramation," and "soil transformation" describe the same process.
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It is its own method, not a kind of cremation. Industry guidance treats NOR as a distinct form of disposition, separate from flame cremation and from aquamation.
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It produces soil, not ashes. A family receives roughly one cubic yard of soil, not the bone fragments that flame cremation returns.
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It is currently legal in 14 states. Washington was first in 2019. New Jersey was the most recent, in 2025.
- It is not currently legal in Indiana or Kentucky. No facility operates in either state, and there is no current law allowing it.
What this guide covers: how the process works, what a family actually receives, where it is and isn't legal, why most states haven't passed it, what it costs, and how it stacks up against the flame cremation that Magnolia does offer.
How does the process work, and what does a family receive?
The body is placed in a contained vessel with straw, wood chips, and other natural materials, then held under controlled heat and airflow until it breaks down into soil. The process is aerobic, meaning it relies on oxygen. States that have legalized the method regulate it closely. In Washington, for example, the finished soil must be lab-tested by a third party for metals like lead and mercury and for bacteria, and it cannot be released to a family if it exceeds the state's limits.
There is no casket during the process. Embalming usually disqualifies a body, and clothing or a shroud is limited, because anything between the body and the natural materials slows the work.
How long it takes depends on what you are measuring. Providers commonly describe roughly 6 to 12 weeks for the active phase, while some state regulations allow for longer windows, and the Cremation Association of North America's position statement on NOR lists a process range as wide as 45 to 365 days when curing time is included. There is no single fixed number that holds across every provider and state, so treat any precise figure with caution.
When it's done, the family receives about one cubic yard of soil, sometimes more. That is a real volume to plan for. Families often keep a portion in an urn or keepsake, scatter some where local rules allow, or donate it to conservation or reforestation land. Across the states that have legalized the method, two limits show up consistently: the soil can't be sold, and it can't be used to grow food for people. Colorado's law, SB21-006, prohibits both, as does Maryland's HB 1168 / SB 1028 (2024), which extends the food restriction to livestock as well.
Where is it legal in the United States?
As of July 2026, 14 states have legalized human composting: Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Vermont, California, New York, Nevada, Arizona, Maryland, Delaware, Minnesota, Maine, Georgia, and New Jersey. I expect that number to keep climbing. Legislative sessions wrap up between mid-summer and the start of the new year, so another state or two could be added in that window. The pattern tends to hold along regional lines: coastal states often move once a neighbor does, while interior states tend to be more cautious.
Washington started it in 2019, with the law taking effect in May 2020. Georgia became the 13th state in 2025, and New Jersey followed as the 14th later that year. The list keeps moving. As recently as this spring, Oklahoma's legislature passed HB 3660 ("the Burial Freedom Bill") that would have made it the 15th state, but Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed it in May 2026.
Here's a distinction that trips families up: legal does not mean locally available. Several states that have legalized the method have no operating facility yet, and California's law is on the books but not in effect until 2027. In those states, families still arrange to transport their family member to a licensed facility in another state. That transport reality is part of why cost is hard to pin down, which we'll get to below.
Is human composting legal in Indiana or Kentucky?
No. Human composting is not legal in Indiana or Kentucky as of July 2026, and no facility operates in either state.
Indiana
Indiana has seen one human composting bill, HB 1609 in 2025, titled "Disposition of human remains by composting." It would have added Natural Organic Reduction to the state's definition of disposition and directed the funeral and cemetery board to write rules for composting facilities. It was referred to the Committee on Commerce, Small Business and Economic Development on January 21, 2025 and never advanced. There was no successor bill in the 2026 session, which adjourned on February 27, 2026.
Speaking as a funeral director who works in this state, I read that slow pace as caution, not resistance. Indiana has often been early to the table on disposition law, frequently with input from the Indiana Funeral Directors Association, and I expect the state will legalize composting eventually. What holds it up is a real question the law has to answer first. Some states have authorized new methods by copying their existing cremation statutes almost word for word, which leaves a gap: the final result of composting is soil, not ashes, and the rules for handling, releasing, and documenting it are not the same. Indiana tends to want that worked out before it signs off, and I think that care serves families well.
One point worth keeping straight: Indiana's active recent debate over a cremation alternative has been about aquamation (alkaline hydrolysis), a separate method, not composting. If you've seen news about Indiana lawmakers weighing a "cremation alternative," that was the aquamation discussion. We cover it in detail in our guide to aquamation in Indiana and Kentucky.
Kentucky
Kentucky has no statute allowing human composting and no active bill to create one. The state tends to run behind Indiana on alternative disposition methods generally, and in my experience, Kentucky is often years behind other states when it comes to changing anything related to death care. The honest read is simple: it isn't legal here, and nothing is moving through the legislature to change that right now.
Why isn't it legal in most states?
In most states, human composting isn't banned so much as not yet authorized. Disposition methods have to be expressly written into state law. The default in any state that hasn't passed a bill is that the method simply isn't permitted yet. Human composting is a newer option, the first law passed in Washington in 2019, and legislatures move slowly on something this new.
Where bills do come up and fail, two kinds of objection tend to surface. The first is religious, covered just below. The second is a broader argument about how a society should treat the dead. When Oklahoma's governor vetoed his state's bill in May 2026, his stated reasoning was that the bill moves too far toward treating the human body as a material to be repurposed, rather than remains to be reverently laid to rest.
So the picture is mostly about timing and newness, with documented religious and ethical opposition in the places where bills have stalled. It is not a safety ban. The states that have legalized it did so after reviewing the same science.
What is the Catholic Church's position on human composting?
The Catholic Church permits flame cremation under specific conditions, but it does not accept human composting. For Catholic families weighing their options, this is the clearest line in the whole topic.
In a March 2023 statement, "On Proper Disposition of Bodily Remains," the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Doctrine evaluated human composting and alkaline hydrolysis together and concluded that neither satisfies the Church's requirements for respecting the body. The specific concern with composting, in the bishops' words, is that the body and the plant material decompose into a single mass with nothing distinguishably left of the body to be placed in a casket or urn and laid to rest in a sacred place.
Flame cremation, by contrast, is accepted by the Church when the ashes are kept together, are interred in a sacred place, and are not scattered, divided, or kept at home. The Church's requirement centers on keeping the body intact and placed in sacred ground, either owned or blessed by the Church. Composting turns the body into soil that cannot be separated back out from the straw and plant material, which means there is nothing distinct to inurn or lay to rest in a Catholic cemetery. For a Catholic family in Indiana or Kentucky, flame cremation is the accepted alternative to burial. Composting is not, and it isn't available locally regardless.
What does human composting cost?
Published provider starting prices generally fall between roughly $5,000 and $7,000. The lower end of that range tends to cover the base service with online arrangement and the soil returned to the family. The higher end usually reflects in-person services, ceremony space, and other options. Either way, transportation is typically separate, which matters for families around here since the nearest licensed facility is several states away.
Be skeptical of any single "average" figure you see. Some sources publish a median, but it's usually an average of two or three providers, not a real market rate. There simply isn't enough of a market yet to support a dependable number.
For families in Indiana or Kentucky, the figure is a frame of reference more than a quote. Because the method isn't available locally, the real out-of-pocket cost would also include transporting your family member to a state where it's legal. By comparison, flame cremation is available throughout both states, and direct cremation with Magnolia starts at $995.
What happens to the bones?
Bones break down along with the rest of the body during the process, and any pieces that remain are processed into the final soil rather than returned separately. This is a real difference from flame cremation. After flame cremation, what's returned to a family is mostly bone fragments, reduced to a fine, sand-like texture. After composting, there are no separate bone fragments at all. The result is one uniform material: soil.
Non-organic items, like surgical implants or medical devices, are removed before the soil is returned to the family. The Cremation Association of North America's position statement on NOR states the standard plainly: non-organic implants must be removed prior to scattering or soil placement. The finished soil is not identifiable as human remains and loses the characteristics that would allow DNA identification.
How is it different from cremation?
Flame cremation uses heat and takes a few hours, returning ashes. Human composting uses a vessel and natural materials over weeks to months, returning soil. They are different methods with different results, different timelines, and very different availability for families in Indiana and Kentucky.
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Flame Cremation |
Human Composting |
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What it uses |
Heat |
Vessel with natural materials, oxygen, controlled heat |
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How long |
A few hours |
Roughly 6 to 12 weeks (active phase) |
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What the family receives |
Cremated remains |
About one cubic yard of soil |
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Available in Indiana & Kentucky |
Yes, throughout both states |
No, nearest facility is out of state |
One more distinction that matters for this cluster: industry guidance treats flame cremation and aquamation as forms of cremation, but classifies human composting as its own separate category. So when people ask whether composting is "a third type of cremation," the technically accurate answer is no. It's a different path entirely.
If flame cremation is the route that fits your family, Magnolia serves families throughout Kentucky and Indiana, and you can start planning online whenever you're ready.
Frequently Asked Questions About Human Composting
Is human composting the same thing as Natural Organic Reduction?
Yes. Natural Organic Reduction, or NOR, is the term used in laws and by regulators. Human composting is the everyday term. You'll also see provider brand names like recomposition or terramation. They all describe the same process: turning a body into soil inside a contained vessel.
How long does human composting take?
It depends on what's being measured. Providers commonly describe roughly 6 to 12 weeks for the active process, while some state regulations allow longer windows, and one industry table lists a range from 45 to 365 days including curing. There's no single fixed number across all providers and states.
What does the family get back?
About one cubic yard of soil, sometimes more. The soil isn't identifiable as human remains. Families often keep a portion, scatter some where rules allow, or donate it to conservation land. The volume is large enough that placement usually takes some planning ahead of time.
How is human composting different from cremation?
Flame cremation uses heat and takes a few hours, leaving ashes. Human composting uses a contained vessel with natural materials over weeks to months, leaving soil. Industry guidance treats human composting as its own distinct method, not a type of cremation.
Is human composting legal in Indiana or Kentucky?
No, not as of July 2026. Indiana saw one composting bill in 2025 that didn't advance out of committee, and there's no current statute. Kentucky has no statute and no active bill. Laws can change, so it's worth checking current status before making plans.
How many states allow human composting?
Fourteen states as of July 2026, tracked through state legislation: Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Vermont, California, New York, Nevada, Arizona, Maryland, Delaware, Minnesota, Maine, Georgia, and New Jersey. Being legal in a state doesn't always mean a facility operates there yet.
What does human composting cost?
The market is young and has few providers, so there's no reliable average. Published provider prices generally fall between roughly $5,000 and $7,000. For families in Indiana or Kentucky, the cost would also include transporting their family member to a state where the method is legal.
Does the Catholic Church allow human composting?
No. In a March 2023 statement, the U.S. bishops' doctrine committee concluded that human composting doesn't satisfy the Church's requirements for respecting the body, because nothing of the body remains distinguishable to be laid to rest in a sacred place. The Church does permit flame cremation under certain conditions.
Human composting is a real and growing option, but it isn't one you can choose here yet, and it may not be the right fit even where it's available. If you're weighing your options, it can help to see clear numbers for what's actually available to your family here, with no pressure and no guesswork. We're glad to walk you through it whenever you're ready.
About the Author: Aaron Scott
Aaron Scott is Vice President of Scott Family Services, the parent company of Magnolia Cremations, and a licensed funeral director in Indiana (#FD21100032) and Kentucky (#6880). A native of Jeffersonville, Indiana, Aaron graduated from Jeffersonville High School in 1999, earned his Bachelor of Science from Murray State University in 2003, and completed his funeral service training at Mid-America College in 2005.
Aaron currently serves as Clark County Coroner and holds a leadership role as District 8 Director on the Indiana Funeral Directors Association Board. He brings more than two decades of experience to his role, blending professional expertise with a genuine passion for serving others.
Outside of work, Aaron enjoys traveling and spending time with his wife, Alanna, their two children, Cora and Andrew, and their loyal dog, Stanley. His commitment to excellence and community care continues to shape the future of funeral service in Southern Indiana and beyond.
Author bio up-to-date as of July 2026