One man’s trash is another man’s energy.

Cedar Grove Composting, a Seattle startup that turns food and yard waste into compost, is tackling trash with a new anaerobic digester, according to an article in the Seattle Post Intelligencer. The device works by generating methane while it breaks down decomposting organic waste, the article said.

Cedar Grove will source the materials from Seattle’s weekly yard- and waste collection, which increased roughly 47 percent during the first year of collection, the article said.

“The estimate is that we’re recovering 60-70 percent of single-family residential food waste that’s there,” the economist for Seattle Public Utilities said in the article.

Who knew trash had so much potential?

Photo via seattlepi.com