Urban Growers Collective

Green Era operates Chicago’s flagship food-waste-only anaerobic digester in Auburn Gresham, converting inedible, packaged food waste into renewable energy, nutrient-rich compost, and local jobs. To date, the facility has diverted hundreds of millions of pounds of material from landfills and generated enough clean energy to power thousands of homes, while returning high-quality compost to Urban Growers Collective’s nine farms. By pairing an operating company with community partners, including UGC and the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation, Green Era channels value back into the neighborhood. The campus functions as a true closed loop: food waste becomes renewable energy to power homes and compost that fuels urban agriculture, creating a self-sustaining cycle of local resource recovery. Together, these elements make Green Era a replicable model for aligning climate action with community wealth. Reach out to Green Era to learn more and to start recycling your food waste today.