Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco) has made arrangements to begin collecting empty plastic liquor bottles returned by customers at 20 of its outlets in Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur districts from Wednesday (September 10).

How the system works
Bevco will charge an additional ₹20 for every bottle of liquor sold, which will be refunded when the plastic bottle is returned.

During sales, a special label designed by C-DIT, marked with the name of the outlet, will be pasted on each bottle. A separate receipt for the ₹20 deposit will also be issued. Customers need not produce the bill while returning bottles, but the label must remain intact.

Warehouse managers have been instructed to allocate ₹10,000 to each outlet exclusively for refunding the bottle deposits. Refunds must be made from this amount alone.

A separate counter will operate at Bevco outlets to collect returned bottles. Kudumbashree members will be deployed to man the counters at a daily wage of ₹710, with an additional ₹420 paid for work beyond eight hours.

The collected bottles will be handed over to Clean Kerala Company, which will pay Bevco for the procurement.

“At least ₹80,000 is required to arrange these facilities at each outlet,” said Bevco CMD Harshita Attaluri.

“The project will be extended to all 283 Bevco outlets by January 1, 2026,” she added.

Outlets receiving returned bottles
Thiruvananthapuram: Mukkola, Power House Road, Gowreesapattom, Nettayam Mukkola, Ambalamukku, Muttathara, Plamood, Uloor, Karikkakom and Chenkottukonam.
Kannur: Chirakkuni, Koothuparamba, Panappuzha, Parakkandy, Kelakom, Kizhuthally, Thana, Chakkarakkal, Payyanur and Padikkunnu.

No newspapers to wrap bottles
From October 1, Bevco outlets will stop using old newspapers to wrap bottles. Instead, customers will have to purchase carry bags priced at ₹15 and ₹20.