BENGALURU: Garbage and its inefficient disposal have always been a mounting worry for Bengalureans. Realizing the yet-to-be-tapped potential of the ‘new-age gold’, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is now looking at ways to ensure no money is wasted, literally. The plan is to turn heaps of waste into a money-minting source.With technology advancements to convert waste into energy and bio-methanization — a natural process of decomposition of organic matter by microorganisms — waste is today more valuable than any other commodity which municipalities own. However, very few corporations or city administrations have utilized it for revenue generation.The Palike spends a whopping Rs 450 crore per year to dispose of waste. This includes contracts which have been awarded to garbage contractors, bills by waste-segregating units, pourakarmikas, expenses for transportation of waste to dumping yards and rents/leases for using private land for landfills. With fresh tenders for 98 packages to be announced in a few days, the expenditure is set to increase. The total expenditure on garbage disposal is expected to go up from Rs 450 crore to Rs 600cr- Rs 650cr a year from 2015-16.BBMP special commissioner for solid waste management Subodh Yadav said a proposal is being considered to convert the garbage-disposal system into a selling point. “As a first step, we have thought of stopping the tipping fee or waste disposal fee which is paid to private waste-disposal companies and other waste-to-energy projects,” he said.As per present rates, BBMP pays approximately Rs 165 per tonne of waste which is dumped in private landfills and segregating units. The rates also vary from one company to another, with rates likely to be more for firms which will be generating energy from waste.At present, there are three waste-to-energy plants being constructed in and around Bengaluru, utilizing the city’s refuse for generating power and selling it back to the state-owned electricity supply companies. This apart, seven to eight biomass plants have also started using the city’s waste to generate power and supply it to the grid.