A waste-picker collecting plastic on the shoreline at Mahim, Mumbai
ENACTUS INDIA · 2025 Top 20 National Exposition, Early Stage
Project Sanchay · Enactus H.R. College

From sea waste
to second life.

We pull plastic off Mumbai's coastline, send it to be recycled, and create paid work for the women waste-pickers who recover it.

Worked with & recognised by
Yashlok Welfare FoundationNavi Mumbai Municipal CorporationEnactus India Nationals 2025E-Summit · IIT RoorkeeIFAT India 2025H.R. College of Commerce & Economics

What one student team has done so far.

The numbers so far, from our drives on Mumbai's coast and the credits that fund them.

7,000kg

Ocean waste recovered

Taken off the shoreline and sent for recycling.

6

Clean-up drives

Run on Mumbai's coast with our partners.

5

Women waste-pickers

Employed on our drives and recognised for their work.

3,000

Plastic credits sold

To companies offsetting their plastic footprint.

What washes up on Mumbai's shore

PET bottlesChip packetsCarry bagsGhost netsSlippersThermocolFood wrappersStrawsCupsRopeSachetsBottle caps
The problem

Plastic doesn't disappear. It drifts.

Plastic is one of the most widely used materials today. Thrown away carelessly, it washes into drains, creeks and the sea, where it can stay for hundreds of years.

The people

And the people who clean it up go unseen.

Our waste system leans on waste-pickers, yet their work is rarely valued or fairly paid.

The idea

संचयSanchay: to gather.

What if pulling plastic out of the sea could also create livelihoods? That's Project Sanchay. We gather the plastic, send it to be recycled, and turn the work into income.

How it works

From the shoreline to a plastic credit.

Five steps, and every one of them is something you can see on the ground.

Women waste-pickers on the shore at Mahim Reti Bunder
01 · On the shore

Collect

A crew of women waste-pickers and a supervisor work the coastline at Mahim Causeway. Our volunteers manage the site and keep count.

Waste-pickers sorting recovered waste at a collection point
02 · At the collection point

Sort & segregate

What comes off the beach is mixed. We sort it by type so each kind of plastic can go where it will be recovered best.

Volunteers with sacks of recovered plastic
03 · On record

Weigh & document

Every shift is photographed with a GPS and time stamp, and every bag is weighed, so each kilo can be traced back to the day and place it was recovered.

Where it goes
Raincoatsfor Navi Mumbai municipal workers
Helmetsfor Rajasthan Police
04 · Through our partners

Recycle

With Yashlok Welfare Foundation, the plastic goes to recovery and recycling facilities and comes back as useful things: raincoats for municipal workers, helmets for police.

PLASTIC CREDIT SANCHAY
₹50per credit
05 · For companies

Credit

Companies buy plastic credits for the plastic we recover. That money pays the crew and funds the next drive.

Traceability

Every kilo, on record.

A plastic credit is only worth something if you can prove the plastic was really recovered. So we keep a paper trail for every batch, from the shoreline to the recycler.

  1. Photo at the shore

    Each collection is photographed on site with a GPS location and time stamp.

  2. Weighed and logged

    Bags are weighed and entered against a batch, with the site, the date and the crew who worked it.

  3. Sorted and handed over

    The batch is segregated by type and handed to our recycling partner, who confirms what they received.

  4. Credits with proof

    A company's credits are linked to real batches, so they can see the photos and weights behind every rupee.

Batch recordSample
SAN · MHM · 0001
Shoreline collection photo with its GPS stamp
GPS + time stamp ✓
Site
Mahim Causeway
Crew
4 collectors · 1 supervisor
Weight
182.4 kg
Partner
Yashlok Welfare Fdn.
  1. Photographed at the shore
  2. Weighed & logged
  3. Sorted by plastic type
  4. Handed to recycling partner
  5. Credits issued with proof
Batch verified ✓

This is a sample showing what a batch record holds. The weight here is for illustration.

Second life

Sea waste, back in service.

Plastic that once threatened marine life now protects the people who keep our cities running.

14 July 2025 · Navi Mumbai

Raincoats for municipal workers

With Yashlok Welfare Foundation, we gave raincoats made from recycled sea-waste plastic to Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation workers. The team was felicitated by Commissioner Dr. Kailash Shinde and Mr. Kishore Bhatija of Inorbit Malls and K Raheja Group.

October 2025 · Waves to Wheels

Helmets for Rajasthan Police

Through the "Waves to Wheels" CSR project by IIFL Foundation and Yashlok Welfare Foundation, Rajasthan Police received ISI-certified helmets made from recycled ocean and land plastic. The clean-ups behind them were run by Enactus H.R. College students.

Business model

Collection is only the beginning.

For Sanchay to grow, it has to pay for itself. Two revenue streams connect recovering plastic with earning from it.

Reported revenue so far
₹1.6 lakh
Plastic credits3,000 credits × ₹50 each
₹1,50,000
Plastic scrap salesRecovered material sold on
₹10,000

Why companies partner with us

  • Meet CSR goals with impact you can point to on Mumbai's coast.
  • Show real environmental responsibility for your plastic footprint.
  • Help empower women and underprivileged communities through paid work.

Plastic credits are our main revenue stream. Every credit funds recovery, sorting and the people who do it.

Our journey

From a pilot on one beach to a national stage.

  1. Groundwork at Mahim

    Three pilot phases at Mahim Causeway and Reti Bunder, run with Yashlok Welfare Foundation under our Samudra Manthan project, tested the waste-offsetting model that Sanchay grew from. Over 650 kg of sea waste was collected and sent for recycling.

  2. Project Sanchay begins

    Sanchay launches as a waste-offsetting initiative. On 14 July, raincoats made from recycled sea-waste plastic are handed to Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation workers.

  3. Top 20 in India

    At the Enactus India National Exposition 2025, Sanchay was selected among the top 20 projects nationwide in the Early Stage category.

    Enactus India Nationals
  4. IFAT India 2025

    Two volunteers represented Sanchay at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, meeting global organisations on recycling, funding and QR-based waste tracking.

  5. Waves to Wheels

    Clean-ups by Enactus H.R. College students feed the IIFL Foundation and Yashlok Welfare Foundation project that turns ocean plastic into helmets for Rajasthan Police.

  6. 15 days on the coast

    Sanchay operations at Mahim Causeway: 4 workers and a supervisor, with 5 Enactus volunteers overseeing every day.

  7. Sanchay goes public

    A beach clean-up and awareness drive at Girgaon Chowpatty with over 200 students from MSPT and VBMM schools.

  8. Top 40 at IIT Roorkee

    At Envision 2026, part of E-Summit '26, Sanchay was among the top 40 teams invited to present, from more than 490 colleges.

    E-Summit · IIT Roorkee
  9. Recognised by NMMC

    Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation recognised Enactus HRC for its work under Project Sanchay.

We want a system where plastic waste is treated as a resource, not something to throw away, and where the people who recover it get greater opportunities.

Team Sanchay · Enactus HRC
Partner with us

Make your plastic footprint count.

Buy plastic credits, sponsor a clean-up, or bring Sanchay into your CSR plan. Real change happens when environmental sustainability and social impact work together.

500credits
At ₹50 per credit₹25,000
Text Team Sanchay on Instagram