Shimla, June 1 -- The Himachal cabinet on Saturday decided to come up with a Deposit Refund Scheme 2025 as a pilot project to effectively manage and reduce non-biodegradable waste. Under this scheme, consumers will pay a refundable deposit over and above the product price which will be returned upon the return of the empty packing material, such as glass bottles, plastic beverage containers, aluminium cans, liquid packaging, flexible plastic packaging and multilayered packages.

The decision regarding where and when it will be implemented will be taken later. Under the new scheme, tourists purchasing plastic or polythene-packed materials will be charged a nominal security fee, which will be refunded upon the return of the packaging. The i...