A WORLD-FIRST facility that turns human bodies into compost will be up and running in 2021.

US "deathcare" firm Recompose will offer a "human composting" service that gently converts people's remains into soil.

5 Recompose, based in Seattle, Washington, will offer a "human composting" service from 2021 Credit: Olson Kundig

The process, dubbed "recomposition", is to be offered as an alternative to a traditional burial or cremation.

Once placed inside aerated tubes and covered with wood chips, bodies can be decomposed and turned into a cubic yard of soil – equivalent to a few wheelbarrows' worth – in as little as four weeks.

The system is environmentally friendly and can occur in cities and urban areas where space in natural burial grounds is limited.

"Recompose takes guidance from nature," the company writes on its website.

5 Recompose is run by American designer Katrina Spade. Pictured is Katrina with compost made using a dead cow Credit: AP:Associated Press

"At the heart of our model is a system that will gently return us to the earth after we die."

Based in Seattle, Washington, Recompose is run by American designer Katrina Spade.

She's been building the project for years, but it only became a viable service earlier this year when Washington passed a historic bill to become the first US state to allow human composting.

The law goes into effect in May 2020 and promises to spark what Katrina calls a "deathcare revolution".

5 Here's what a funeral service could look like at the bonkers facility Credit: Olson Kundig

She plans to have a fully functioning Recompose facility open for business in 2021.

It will feature a wall of 75 reusable, hexagonal tubes that the company calls "Recomposition Vessels".

"Bodies are covered with wood chips and aerated, providing the perfect environment for naturally occurring microbes and beneficial bacteria," Recompose says on its website.

"Over the span of about 30 days, the body is fully transformed, creating soil which can then be used to grow new life."

5 Bodies are covered with wood chips and aerated in a reusable, hexagonal tube. They are decomposed and turned into compost in as little as 30 days Credit: Olson Kundig

Once the body has fully decomposed, family and friends can take away their loved ones as compost.

The process limits the carbon footprint from cremations and traditional burials.

"Our system uses nature's principles to return our bodies to the earth, sequestering carbon and improving soil health," Recompose says.

"In fact, we've calculated carbon savings over a metric ton per person."

5 The Recompose facility will have as many as 75 containers for human composting Credit: Olson Kundig

One body can create as much as 1,300 kilos of soil.

Some remains are expected to be donated to a Washington land soil project to provide a forest on the State's Bell mountain.

It's not the only form of unusual burial that has popped up in recent years.

One mortician is setting up a centre in Ireland that will offer "liquid cremations" in which corpses are dissolved in hot water.

Sheffield firm Aura Flights charges up to £3,000 to send the ashes of your loved ones into space aboard a modified weather balloon.

UK company will scatter your ashes in space for less than £1000, watch the video to see how they do it

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In other news, your body could one day be freeze-dried and turned into powder as a "green" alternative to cremation.

We visited bonkers British firm Aura Flights earlier this year to investigate how they send people's ashes into space.

And, here are some of the world's most gruesome burial sites.

Would you consider a composting burial? Let us know in the comments!

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