The Goa Government has decided to start a Deposit Refund Scheme from 1st April 2026. In this scheme, Goans and tourists will be required to pay extra for daily food items sold in plastic and glass packaging, like bottles, pouches, multilayered wrappers, and cartons, etc.
Concerns for consumers
-The consumers will be required to save the empty wrappers, bottles, etc., and bring them to collection centres and get their refund amount (from Rs. 2 to Rs.10 per packet) in their bank account through digital mode.
-Goans will now have to pay twice for the management of the same waste stream by way of periodic household waste management fees as well as the deposit amount under DRS.
-Huge effort on the part of consumers who will now have to save the dirty used packages and bring them to collection points. The collection points will be insufficient and far away for urban dwellers, who may have better access than rural or semi-urban consumers, who may end up forfeiting the deposit amount.
The cost and complication of the scheme outweigh the gains for the state, its people, industry, and most importantly, the environment.
India has sufficient recycling capacities and processes for handling plastic, metal, and glass waste. Goa already has a consistent and functional door-to-door collection, segregation, composting, and waste management system. Goan cities were recognised for their waste management efforts at the national level in the Swach Survekshan 2024-25 Awards.
India’s FMCG industry, which is already compliant with the regulations of the Plastic Waste Management Rules, is now compelled to comply with a duplicate regulation in Goa State for the same purpose. The industry valuation stands at approximately Rs. 21 lakh crore, and this sector contributes a major share to the GDP of Goa State. However, this Scheme is introduced in the absence of a lacuna in waste management and without a proper scientific and technical evaluation done by experts. Neither a consultation with the local bodies, consumers, retailers, waste pickers, recyclers, waste management agencies, industry stakeholders, nor environmental experts was done, nor was substantial environmental/recycling data evaluated.
With the exemption of microenterprises from participating in DRS, the founding argument to reduce littering in Goa will remain unfulfilled, along with distortion in competition in price-sensitive categories like packaged snacks, water, soft drinks, juices, etc.
Due to the operational, implementational, and design flaws that have a clear potential to disrupt market dynamics and bring inconvenience to Goans and tourists, we request the Honourable Chief Minister to immediately defer the implementation of DRS in Goa and constitute a joint working group comprising industry Associations, consumer representatives, local bodies, and technical experts.
