The largest human composting facility in the US has opened in Elkridge, Maryland, with capacity to process 2,000 bodies annually. The 37,000-square-foot Earth Funeral facility features 126 rotating vessels that decompose human remains into nutrient-rich soil over approximately one month using bacteria, fungi and mulch. The facility will serve the entire East Coast. Previously, people wanting human composting had to ship bodies to Washington state or Nevada. The process costs between $5,000 and $7,000, slightly more than cremation. A Wake Forest University survey found over half of respondents would consider alternatives to traditional burial. Fourteen states have legalised human composting in the past 17 years. The method appeals to environmentally conscious consumers as it avoids cremation's fossil fuel emissions and burial's embalming fluids.

NC targeted for expansion by company that turns human remains into compost. July 22, 2026 6:16 AM Gift Article Before Janet Batiansila's husband, Walter, died last year, the man raised in the French Quarter of New Orleans jokingly wished to be "dragged to a bayou and eaten by alligators." But Batiansila, a Raleigh resident, had something different in mind - an option that was more meaningful and respectful. As an alternative to cremation or burial, she turned to Earth Funeral, a San Francisco- and New York-based business that turns human bodies into compost. "I just think this gives you so many more options," Batiansila said. "It's much more of a peaceful process. There's no burning. I just can't imagine the appeal of cremation if people knew there was another option that is just more comforting." The company is working to open a facility in North Carolina, co-founder Tom Harries told The Charlotte Observer recently. Earth Funeral operates facilities in Washington, Nevada and Maryland, and serves families nationwide. "It used to be that you'd have a family plot, and you would bury grandma in the backyard... and you'd scatter some wildflowers on top, and every season when the wildflowers would bloom, you'd say, 'Oh, there's grandma pushing up the daisies, right?' " Harries said. "And so there is this return to that... a return-to-the-earth concept in this process as well." Returning bodies to the earth. It takes 30 to 45 days to transform bodies into nutrient-rich soil through a human composting system, according to Harries. The process works by placing a body into a tube-like high-tech vessel with organic mulch, wood chips and wildflowers. Naturally occurring microbes decompose the body down to the molecular level. After the process is complete, Earth Funeral gives families the compost, which looks like regular potting soil. It can be used for small plants, memorial gardens or trees. "There were flowers involved, which, as a woman, made me feel good," Batiansila said. "At such a difficult time, they handled everything beautifully, and so that meant a lot." Any material not kept by the family is donated to land conservation and reforestation projects to plant native trees. "We are using naturally created microbes, and there are no insects added... there are no chemicals added," Harries said. "It's a completely natural process." Earth Funeral eyes Charlotte. To expand access, Earth Funeral is pursuing legislation next year that would allow it to operate in North Carolina and build a $10 million facility, with Charlotte high on its list of potential sites, according to Harries. Currently, Earth Funeral operates as a licensed funeral establishment serving North Carolina residents by transporting remains to other states where composting human remains is legal. Harries believes the service will be welcomed in North Carolina for environmental reasons. Conventional burials rely on toxic embalming chemicals and materials that don't break down, while cremation consumes fossil fuels and releases CO2 and mercury, he said. In North Carolina, 57% of people opt for cremation over burial, driven mostly by cost and limited cemetery space in cities, according to Harries. Earth Funeral appeals to those who want a nature-based option without the environmental impacts of flame-based cremation or chemical burial. The cost of Earth Funeral's service is $6,500, which is a cheaper alternative to the national average for full-service burials at around $9,500, according to the company. Cremations are about the same price as human composting. Before starting Earth Funeral in 2020 with co-founder Richard Benton, Harries ran a large, traditional cremation company. The switch to soil transformation came from a realization about the death-care industry. "I didn't personally really resonate with the idea of cremation," he said. "It does what you want it to do, but I don't think it's a particularly pleasant process." One of the most frequently asked questions by people thinking about their funeral is, "How can I become a tree?" according to Harries. "Before we started doing what we do, the best option was putting cremated remains around a tree. But that's inert material, and it's not really helping the tree," he said. "This process is the closest we've developed to actually becoming a tree." Human composting faces legal hurdles and moral debate. Not everyone is excited about human composting. Human composting is legal in more than a dozen states. Earth Funeral's push into North Carolina would help establish a stronger presence in the Southeast. Even if a bill is approved by the N.C. Legislature and signed into law passes, the set-up won't happen overnight. California legalized the process in 2022, but the law will not officially take effect until 2027, KQED reported. This gives state environmental, zoning and cemetery boards time to produce a new regulatory framework for human composting. While bills have worked their way through states like Illinois and Rhode Island, legislation hit a roadblock in Oklahoma when Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed a bill in May that would have legalized human composting, KOSU reported. Stitt said the bill raised questions about moral and human dignity that go beyond ordinary burial practices. "Reducing human remains into soil for reuse crosses a line that many Oklahomans believe should be approached with far greater caution," Stitt stated in his veto message. "The way a society treats the dead reflects how it understands the dignity of human life." There is also religious pushback. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has opposed bills allowing human composting, according to a news release. The organization believes that the process fails to satisfy the church's requirement for proper respect for the bodies of the deceased, adding that scattering compost or using it for land restoration does not give the human body a final resting place, comparing it to dropping household compost on a garden. An earthy legacy for families. For grieving families, however, the process offers peace of mind and personal meaning. Batiansila said the fact that she and her husband belonged to different religions (she is Jewish and Walter was Lutheran) also played a role in her decision. After Walter died in July 2025, most of his remains stayed with Earth Funeral for environmental planting. But Batiansila took a small portion to six national parks, including the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Yellowstone. And some of Walter's remains made it to a bayou after all. His family placed a portion of the compost in a lit, biodegradable candle container and let it float down a Louisiana bayou. A south Charlotte woman is also preparing to turn to Earth Funeral. Marsha Costigan wants to use the service for her husband, Michael, who has primary progressive aphasia (a form of frontotemporal dementia) and is unable to speak. Costigan learned about Earth Funeral through a support group after another member used the service for his late wife. She is pre-planning because Michael is ecologically oriented. "You don't have the chemicals and damage to the environment with cremation," Costigan said, "and he goes right back into the earth." She wants Earth Funeral to place the majority of his compost in their conservation area to nourish the land, while keeping a small amount for her houseplants. Honoring values at the end of life. David Reed's late wife, Myra Emerson, was a dedicated environmentalist who requested human composting for her remains. Reed worked with a local Chapel Hill funeral home to arrange transportation to the Seattle region for Emerson's remains. The process produces roughly 300 pounds of compost. Earth Funeral returned several quart-sized containers add of compost to the family, a portion of which was spread in the woods of her family farm in Evansville, Indiana. The remaining bulk of the compost went toward a land reclamation project on the Olympic Peninsula. "Some think when you die you turn into a ghost," Emerson wrote before her death. "But not me, I turned into compost." Crime & Courts July 16, 2026 12:41 PM NASCAR & Auto Racing July 16, 2026 3:16 PM The Charlotte Observer Chase Jordan is a business reporter for The Charlotte Observer, and has nearly a decade of experience covering news in North Carolina. Prior to joining the Observer, he was a growth and development reporter for the Wilmington StarNews. The Kansas City native is a graduate of Bethune-Cookman University.