Palani Murugan Temple’s Successful Implementation of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) using Cercle X
Palani Murugan Temple, one of the most popular temples in Tamil Nadu, India, successfully implemented a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) using Cercle X, a technology-first waste management company, to effectively tackle plastic waste management during a festival. This is nice DRS if you ask me as a F1 fan.
The temple attracts over one lakh devotees daily (specially during Thaipoosam), and the significant number of plastic bottles used by them posed a massive waste management challenge.
Coca Cola, as part of their brand activation and sustainability initiative, collaborated with Cercle X to implement a DRS during the auspicious festival of Thaipoosam to encourage devotees to properly dispose of their plastic bottles.
The activation used Cercle X’s DRS mobile application-based solution that incentivized devotees to return their used plastic bottles. The plastic bottles were affixed with QR codes in advance, allowing devotees to easily scan the code to receive their deposit back and bonus rewards. Bonus rewards like free beverages, and cash prizes were also given to participants.
The Cercle X team conducted games and other activation campaigns to keep the crowd entertained while ensuring the proper disposal of plastic bottles. The Cercle X team was able to successfully motivate devotees to return their plastic bottles, resulting in a cleaner temple complex and reduced plastic
pollution.
Success
The success of the DRS at Palani Murugan Temple was due to the efficient tracking and traceability of the plastic bottles. Over one lakh devotees attended the event, and the Cercle X app provided
real-time tracking of the number of bottles returned.
A grand total of hundred bins were setup across Palani (including select spots across bus stands, junction, roundtana, adivaram etc.), and a total of 2916 citizens used our app, for a total of 3256 plastic bottles scanned. (This is apart from hundreds of other citizens directly putting empty bottles into the
bin.) All plastic bottles returned by devotees were collected and sent to traders and aggregators of plastic scrap in the nearby Palani region, with 100% traceability, thereby making the entire Thaipoosam festival plastic-neutral.
Cercle X’s implementation of a deposit return scheme (DRS) using games, and other activation campaigns in Palani Murugan temple provided an excellent example of how DRS can effectively tackle plastic waste management.
By providing a monetary incentive and bonus rewards, the Cercle X team was able to encourage devotees to return their plastic bottles properly, resulting in a cleaner temple complex and reduced plastic pollution.
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