House Bill 3158, the Natural Organic Reduction Act, is currently being discussed in the Illinois General Assembly, which would add another form of disposition for human remains, human composting. Vice President Elect with the Illinois Funeral Directors Association, Trevor Davies, explains the process and expresses possible concerns:
“This is where we take human remains and put them in a decomposition chamber and we add heat and organic matter to accelerate the decomposition process. Then 8 to 12 weeks later, they process the bone matter and create compost. That compost then is considered fertilizer and then can be spread onto private property, given that it has the permission of the landowner. The way the legislation is currently proposed, there was a lot of issues with it. When we cremate somebody, pathogens and different things are eliminated from the body, but with this process the remains are never to a certain temperature to destroy those pathogens, so we have concerns of public health issues. With natural organic reduction there is no consistent type of machines, there are just a lot of different things in that nature.”
Davies informs the total process would also take dramatically longer, up to three to six months, and could range from $6,000 to $7,000.
