Strong Public Response as Citizens Take Closer Look at DRS Live Demos at Colva, Assolna Fests
~ The Spirit of Goa Festival at Colva and the Assolna parish outreach event helped familiarise local communities with cleaner recycling mechanisms.
Margao, April 2026: Following previous demonstrations at Goa Cashew Fest Season 4 in Panaji and a recent public outreach at the Nadora gram sabha, the upcoming Goa Deposit Refund Scheme (DRS) has now concluded two further public engagement showcases in South Goa at The Spirit of Goa Festival 2026 at the SAG Ground, Colva, and the Parish Festival at the Regina Martyrum Church compound, Assolna.
At The Spirit of Goa Festival, visitors were introduced to the full collection ecosystem of the DRS through a dedicated experience zone that remained active through all three days of the event. The initiative formed part of the scheme’s ongoing Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign, aimed at creating awareness and encouraging behavioural change around littering, responsible disposal and recycling.
The festival was inaugurated by Venzy Viegas, Benaulim MLA, in the presence of Kedar Naik, Director of Tourism, Teresa Silva, Colva Sarpanch, Cruz Cardozo, President, All Goa Shack Owners’ Association, Kuldeep Arolkar, Managing Director, Goa Tourism Development Corporation, Deepak Narvekar, Deputy General Manager Marketing, Goa Tourism Development Corporation, and members of the tourism and hospitality sector. Venzy Viegas and Cruz Cardozo also participated in the live DRS demonstration, reflecting growing stakeholder interest in the initiative.
Building on earlier outreach efforts, the Colva showcase offered festivalgoers a first-hand understanding of how the system will function across Goa’s urban and rural settings. Visitors engaged with a range of smart collection technologies designed for practical deployment and consumer convenience.
The DRS outreach then moved to Assolna, where a two-day demonstration at the Regina Martyrum Church compound drew close to 500 people on the opening day alone. Residents, parishioners and local stakeholders experienced the system first-hand and interacted with representatives explaining how container returns and refunds would work.
Appreciating the upcoming initiative, Father Romeu Godinhi said, “It is encouraging to see our community embrace the Deposit Refund Scheme. I urge the people of Assolna and beyond to participate wholeheartedly by returning packaging responsibly and helping build a cleaner Goa for future generations.”
Assolna sarpanch Isaca Fernandes also welcomed the initiative in the village as a positive step towards cleanliness and responsible waste management.
The Goa DRS, led by the Department of Environment & Climate Change, Government of Goa, is a statewide waste recovery initiative that places a refundable value on non-biodegradable packaging such as PET bottles, glass bottles, aluminium cans and multi-layered plastics. By incentivising returns, it aims to reduce litter, improve recycling outcomes and create cleaner public spaces while strengthening livelihoods in the informal waste sector.
At the centre of the demonstrations were India-made collection systems equipped with AI-enabled identification, QR-based traceability and instant digital refund capabilities through UPI. Larger units such as Reklaim Ace are designed for high-volume public locations, while Fastscan enables quicker transactions. Compact units like Reklaim Mini support smaller spaces and mobile solutions such as Reklaim Go demonstrate doorstep and assisted collections.
These continued engagements through festivals and community gatherings mark an important step in familiarising citizens, tourists and stakeholders with the scheme ahead of its wider rollout across the state, while quietly signalling the encouraging response the initiative is already receiving.
