Hospitality sector hopes DRS can curb broken glass menace

Panaji: With glass shards from discarded liquor bottles posing a safety risk to both visitors and locals along the coastline, Goa’s hospitality sector hopes that the rollout of the deposit refund scheme (DRS) can convince people to return bottles instead of breaking them.

“While different agencies are involved in garbage collection, there are still many unmonitored areas where waste is not picked up. This is particularly visible near beach entry points and around tourist areas,” said Nilesh Shah, former president of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG).

Shah blamed litter as one of the reasons for the decline in foreign tourist arriving in Goa.

The move towards a deposit refund and waste return mechanism also received a thumbs up from the organised food service sector. Restaurants, particularly take-away joints, generate the most packaging waste. The DRS mechanism places a small, refundable deposit on packaged goods.

Eligio Fernandes, owner of the popular Arpora watering hole Cajy Bar, sees the scheme as a means towards better waste management.

“If a scheme like this comes in, where instead of just throwing bottles into the recycling bin, I can return them to an outlet that refunds me the amount and ensures the bottles are actually recycled or used again, then I think this is one of the best initiatives for any business that uses packaged materials,” Fernandes said.

The scale of the problem, especially the menace of glass litter, is evident to those on the coastline. Beach shack operators have already aligned with the DRS’s mission of encouraging proper disposal of glass bottles. “Tourists take bottles to the beach, they drink, they bury them, sometimes they litter, sometimes they break them. Later, people step on it. A lot of people cut their feet,” said Cruz Cardozo, president of the Shack Owners’ Welfare Society.

However, the Waste Management Association Goa (WMAG) said the DRS will complicate waste collection. The WMAG demanded that govt first ban single-use plastic before rolling out the scheme. The scheme focuses on ensuring discarded packaging is returned before it becomes litter, rather than dealing with it after it reaches drains, beaches, or public spaces. Govt initially planned to launch the DRS scheme on April 1.