MADISON, Wis. -- With holiday celebrations featuring plenty of fixings, many people have probably been giving their garbage disposals a good workout this season.

A new plan under consideration by Dane County officials could turn that food waste into cash -- not to mention clean energy -- instead of just going down the drain, WISC-TV reported.

How the plan would work isn't yet known, but it's possible that some garbage day in the not-too-distant future, residents could be setting out another trash bin at your curbside -- this one for food waste. This is a product that could mean millions of dollars for many tapped-out taxpayers.

According to the Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, diverting food waste from the expensive Dane County landfill could generate between $2 million and $4 million a year in new county revenue, giving relief to property taxpayers.

A food waste digester, similar to the one in the works for manure, would generate green energy like electricity, which could be sold.

Falk said it's all about turning leftover food from mostly commercial establishments into jobs, money and clean power.

A feasibility study next year will look at all the details, like if collecting and recycling food scraps from homes is feasible, WISC-TV reported.

"There are very few places in the country that are looking at this, but this is the start of looking at how to make this feasible. And you'd start with large institutions where there's a lot of food -- hospitals, for example, and restaurants," Falk said.

Some local businesses said that they already like the concept.

Dan Meter, manager of franchise operations for Glass Nickel Pizza, said it's right up their alley.

"We whole-heartedly embrace green technology and anything that can produce energy or electricity with a minimal reliance on fossil fuels or dirtier technology. We're all for," he said.

Officials at Glass Nickel in Madison said that they have some delivery cars running on recycled grease from the restaurant.

The restaurant managers said that they don't think it would be much of a hassle either to separate out food scraps. They said it would just take another bin that staff would get used to after a short time.

Falk said that about $2 million in federal stimulus dollars have already been approved for the project and up to $350,000 of that will cover the feasibility study this coming year.

A good chunk of what goes into the county dump -- about 15 percent, or 30,000 tons a year -- is food waste, Falk said.

Bids are now out for the feasibility study, which is expected to be completed by next September.