Some entrepreneurs across the country are building businesses based on the belief that garbage -- once destined to rot in a landfill -- can be repurposed into profitable products.

Americans produced about 250 million tons of trash in 2010, recycling and composting about 34 percent of that total, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Now, thanks in part to a sour economy and growing environmental awareness, a few businesses are looking for ways to turn more of the trash destined for landfills into viable products.

For Dan Blake, a former Brigham Young University student and now CEO and co-founder of the startup EcoScraps, the idea for a business came when he couldn't finish his French toast at an all-you-can-eat buffet. He says he realized how much food is wasted at a single restaurant -- and how much it costs for garbage haulers to truck away the scraps. The EPA estimates that 33 million tons of food was trashed in 2010. Because food is among the heaviest waste -- and garbage tipping fees are based on weight -- it's costly to toss old edibles....