Overview
- Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, after a high-level meeting Tuesday, directed the Environment Department to submit a tailored Deposit Return Scheme proposal within one month.
- The scheme would add a small refundable charge to items like plastic bottles that customers get back when they return the empties to collection points or shopkeepers.
- Officials say the goal is to keep recyclable plastic out of the environment and cut clogged drains, dirty waterways, soil damage, and smoke from open burning.
- The study will set out funding, agency roles, duties for retailers and recyclers, and a step-by-step rollout that depends on public participation and private partners.
- Citing results in Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and countries such as Germany and Sweden with return rates above 90%, officials see promise, though experts warn Delhi’s porous borders and its informal waste workforce could complicate the design.