It is Carnival season in New Orleans. That means gazillions of plastic green, gold and purple beads are being tossed to crowds.

Jessica Rimsza, a materials engineer at Sandia National Laboratories, sees untapped potential in what most people see as waste. Food scraps, manure and sewage are natural byproducts of the U.S.

Food waste makes up one-quarter of landfill waste and contributes to more methane emissions than other landfill materials. The Detroit Community Composting Collective Project is out to curb food waste ...