Panaji: Goa’s breweries and distilleries have agreed to work with state authorities and the private agency implementing the Deposit Refund Scheme (DRS), the deposit refund scheme administrative committee said.Committee chairman Anthony de Sa met with representatives from the Breweries Association of India, which agreed to work with Recykal (the scheme operator) to ensure operational readiness, packaging compliance, and container tracking systems before the scheme’s launch on April 1.Meanwhile, de Sa also urged all manufacturers to register under the scheme before Feb 28 to ensure a smooth transition. The appeal followed a meeting with the Breweries Association of India and the additional commissioner of excise, Gaurish Sankhwalkar.“While we do not have access to brand data, from the dashboard we can see that 82% of the volume (of liquor) supplied in Goa is already registered,” said de Sa.To address implementation challenges, de Sa suggested that the Breweries Association of India nominate three industry representatives to work directly with the scheme operator.“By having associations and the system operator working together, we are creating a strategy that is both ambitious and practical. This ensures that the transition for breweries is manageable while we advance Goa’s environmental priorities. The joint effort will focus on critical operational areas, including the integration of QR codes on packaging to enable seamless identification and tracking of containers, along with resolving other logistical and compliance issues,” said the chairman.Goa aims to eliminate glass, aluminium, and plastic packaging litter across the state. Under the DRS scheme, items sold in non-biodegradable packaging will carry a refundable deposit, which consumers can reclaim instantly by returning the empty packaging to collection centres. Consumers will have to pay a deposit of Rs 2 to Rs 10 for items sold in plastic and glass packaging, including alcohol bottles, multilayered wrappers, and milk cartons.
