CHENNAI: A pilot project to collect and refund deposits on glass liquor bottles at the Tasmac outlet in Egmore has recorded 46,992 return instances and disbursed Rs 25.26 lakh in refunds as of August 24, according to data shared by Recykal, which is running the pilot.
The QR-based system was launched at a TASMAC outlet in Egmore in June, using a reverse vending machine (RVM). The pilot has since been extended to two more locations.
According to Recykal’s data, return instances increased from 6,964 on July 9 to 46,992 on August 24. Refunds rose from Rs 6.30 lakh to Rs 25.26 lakh during the same period.
Successful QR-bottle authentications increased from 63,444 to 2,56,580.
Glass bottles sold at the store increased from 1,22,921 to 4,64,474, while the number of unique consumers using the return system rose from 659 to 1,096.
The returned bottles are collected by authorised scrap vendors for further processing. The pilot is being used to assess the deposit-return mechanism before any wider expansion.