Parliament of Australia’s New South Wales legalises composting of the dead

The parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales has passed a law allowing human bodies to be turned into compost. Roughly a third of all Australians live in the state.

The Ukrainian outlet podrobnosti.ua writes that the law permits what is known as terramation: the bodies of the dead are turned into fertile soil.

The body is placed in a special vessel filled with organic plant material: hay, sawdust, alfalfa. To make the tissue break down faster, the temperature inside is gradually raised. The bones are processed into meal and mixed into the overall mass, while everything that does not decompose, including medical implants, is removed. The finished compost is placed in a container and handed over to the deceased's relatives.

The main condition of the law: a person must agree in writing to the composting of their body in advance, before death. The family may use the resulting fertiliser on its own land or give it to parks and conservation areas.

The authors of the initiative hope the new method will help cope with a shortage of cemetery space and curb rising funeral prices. This is their expectation, not a result: the law is not yet in effect.

Susan Carter, a representative of the Liberal Party of Australia, spoke out against this approach. In her words, the human body cannot be regarded merely as a source of nutrients: its value goes beyond the sum of the elements that make it up.

According to Belarusian state media, the law will come into force only in 2028. Local lawmakers need time to bring existing regulations into line with it. It is still unknown which organisations will take part in the programme and who will oversee the process.