The Malwani Health Care & Public Service Centre, a Mumbai-based non-profit organisation (NGO) working towards community welfare, has introduced an innovative eco-friendly initiative that blends environmental responsibility with public health support.
The NGO has installed “Plastic Bottle Recycle Boxes” outside its clinic in Malwani, encouraging residents to deposit their empty plastic bottles instead of discarding them on the streets.
Under this initiative, citizens who contribute to the recycling effort receive free medicines for common ailments such as fever, body pain, cough, cold, and headaches. The model operates on a simple yet impactful concept, “You feed me plastic bottles, I give back free medicines to the needy.”
The campaign, Plastic Do, Muft Mein Dawai Lo Social Drive, was conceptualised and initiated by Hussain Shaikh, the founder of the Malwani Health Care & Public Service Centre, popularly known as “Healthbuddy”.
“The drive began a year ago in Malwani MHADA, Malad West, with the aim of reducing plastic pollution and supporting low-income families who struggle to afford basic medication.
Shaikh said that used plastic bottles, once emptied, lost all value for people and often ended up littered across streets, contributing to pollution. We installed the first recycle box in Malwani a year ago and began collecting discarded bottles. Every month, the box would fill up five to six times. The collected plastic was then sold to nearby scrap vendors, earning Rs. 500–Rs. 800 per month.
This money was used responsibly to purchase loose medicines under the supervision of a visiting doctor at the centre. With just this one box, every month we provided free medicines for fever, body pain, cough, cold, and other aches to 20 to 30 people in Malwani.
Encouraged by the success of the initial experiment, we now aim to scale up the initiative by involving various NGOs, social workers, political groups, and the general public.
“I believe that with collective participation, the campaign can provide free medication to a much larger number of people while helping reduce plastic waste in the locality,” he said.
Through this initiative, we are planning to connect NGOs, social workers, schools, and politicians to spread maximum awareness. We have also started an awareness campaign on social media appealing to people not to throw away used plastic bottles. Instead, they should collect them and give them to our NGO. Our NGO will sell those bottles and buy medicines, which will then be provided free of cost to the needy.
When a large quantity of used plastic bottles is collected, the money earned by selling them will be used to purchase essential medicines and other required drugs prescribed by doctors. These medicines will be given free of charge to people in need.
“To demonstrate the impact and possibilities of the drive, our Malwani Health Care & Public Service Centre is organising a public awareness event on Sunday, 30th November, from 1 pm to 3 pm, where residents can witness how plastic recycling can directly benefit community health.
Shaikh said that going forward, our NGO will purchase a vehicle that will go to people’s homes to collect bottles. In addition, stalls will be set up at various locations where people can deposit their used plastic bottles.”
