CHENNAI: In a bid to make its bottle buy-back scheme implementation smoother and more transparent, the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (Tasmac) is planning to introduce a QR code-based system across all its retail shops in the state in place of the stickers that are now manually pasted on to bottles before sales.
The QR code, printed directly on the bottle during manufacturing, will help identify the bottles eligible for buy-back. The officials said the move will remove the need for additional stickers and prevent manual errors. It will further help track the movement of bottles from production to retail sale and return, reduce bottle misuse and improve environmental safety by ensuring proper recycling, they said.
A senior Tasmac official told TNIE the buy-back scheme has already been implemented in nearly 2,000 retail outlets across 15 districts. “We are now in talks with liquor manufacturing companies to include QR codes during production. Once discussions are completed, QR-coded bottles will be launched in the market across the state,” the official said.
Workers, however, said the government must appoint more staff to handle the collection of empty bottles. Without extra manpower, they said, the workload in retail shops will increase, leading to operational delays.
T Dhanasekaran, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Tasmac Employees Association, told TNIE, “The buy-back scheme is a good initiative, but the government must understand the practical difficulties. Collecting, storing and accounting thousands of empty bottles every day is not easy. Additional staff should be posted immediately.”
He added the union is preparing to submit a detailed representation to the government, seeking clarity on procedures, safety measures for workers, and proper infrastructure for storing returned bottles.
Officials, however, said there is no plan to appoint additional staff for the purpose.