With so much concern about the environment, and the impact of excessive fossil fuel use on our climate, you may be wondering if terramation is a viable funeral option for you or someone you know? The current options of cremation and burial both carry significant ecological consequences and ethically-minded individuals are understandably keen to ensure the principles they stood by in life can be respected in death. At eterrna we passionately believe everyone should have the choice to leave a green legacy to the planet upon their passing, but is human composting the right choice for you, and is it available now?

Under current UK rules, once a death certificate has been issued, a body is transferred to a funeral director or crematorium accompanied by a ‘Certificate for Burial or Cremation’, known as the ‘Green Form’. Without this form, no funeral can take place, and a funeral director cannot legally receive the body into their care. At present, as the name suggests, this form only covers burials or cremations, and no legislation exists to add human composting to this form. As such this technicality prevents terramation being legally permitted in the UK. But is this situation likely to change any time soon?

The right to be terramated could be accelerated if it were as simple as changing the name of the Green Form form to accommodate NOR. However this is not a likely solution, as the government and courts will require a more robust set of specific regulations for each new funerary method to ensure a body is a) treated with dignity, b) the correct environmental protections are in place, and c) the wishes of the deceased are properly respected.

New regulation would seek to ensure new methods of funerals such as NOR provide a safe, dignified method of body disposal. In September 2025, the UK Law Commission finished a consultation that proposed establishing a framework for alternative funerary methods (including terramation) to be properly authorised and regulated. The final report and draft bill is due to be presented to parliament in Spring 2026. At this point the government must then decide if human composting is one of the new funerary methods that can be considered for regulation. 

Kris and Chris were both present at a recent Law Commission seminar to discuss the outcomes of the consultation, and it is clear there is an appetite for drafting legislation for human composting. It was NOT the Law Commission’s role to advocate for terramation or provide any regulation for it themselves, so we are very much at the beginning of the process as the debate begins in parliament. Indeed we may be way off having a clear set of regulations permitting the practice, certainly in England. However we are confident that terramation will be made available, as there is an urgent need to provide alternatives to burial and cremation for the reasons outlined in our article HERE.

In a recent meeting between eterrna and political leaders on Anglesey, the possibility of Wales setting their own legislation was raised, with a view to accelerating the timeframe in which NOR would be available in Wales. The prospect of Wales leading the charge for terramation in the UK is particularly exciting to eterrna, however the amendment to the Green Form is still a Westminster issue, so we shall keep campaigning until terramation is available everywhere. Sign up to our newsletter (LINK) for the latest developments in our campaign.