The Tablet May 19, 2021
“People shouldn’t be treated like household waste,” said Dennis Poust, interim executive director of the Catholic Conference.
WINDSOR TERRACE Proposed legislation that would allow the remains of deceased persons to be composted and reduced to soil the way some recyclable food waste is handled is getting a great deal of pushback from local Catholics.
If the bill introduced by state Sen. Leroy Comrie of Queens and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin of Westchester becomes law, New York would be one of the first states in the nation to allow composting of human remains.
Washington, which passed a law in 2019, is currently the only state in the U.S. currently allowing the process. On May 10, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a human remains composting bill into law effective in 90 days to make that state the second to permit the procedure.