Thu Sep 18 09:44:55 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a news article summarizing the provided text:

**Kerala’s Liquor Bottle Buy-Back Program Sees Promising Start Amidst Initial Hiccups**

**Thiruvananthapuram, September 18, 2025** – Kerala State Beverages Corporation (Bevco)’s pilot program to encourage the return of plastic liquor bottles has seen an average return rate of 40% in its initial phase. The initiative, launched on September 10th in 20 outlets across Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur districts, aims to combat environmental pollution caused by discarded plastic bottles.

Bevco CMD Harshita Attaluri acknowledged challenges including longer queues at stores due to the need to apply QR-coded labels to bottles and collect returns directly by Bevco staff. Initially, Kudumbashree workers were supposed to take care of the collection. Clean Kerala Company Ltd had started carting away the collected bottles from the outlets for recycling

“The pilot is intended to gauge how smoothly the system works and how it can be fine-tuned to address the gaps. We will incorporate the learnings and move forward with the project,” Ms. Attaluri said.

Bevco is also considering expanding the bottle buy-back scheme to glass bottles and cans too. In such a case, a system would have to be put in place for collecting different kinds of bottles, she said.

Attaluri emphasized that customer feedback is being taken seriously, particularly concerns about the additional ₹20 deposit and the requirement to return bottles to the original point of purchase. She indicated that allowing returns at any Bevco outlet is under consideration.

Bevco plans to expand the program state-wide by January 2026, after the current pilot phase. The corporation is also exploring partnerships with private companies to set up collection booths and manage bottle disposal.

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