Page 31 - Plastics News Issue September2025
P. 31
ENVIRONMENT NEWS
INDIA’S FIRST GARBAGE CAFE GIVES FOOD IN EXCHANGE FOR PLASTIC
WASTE, BOOSTS CHHATTISGARH’S CLEANLINESS DRIVE
The cafe, funded through the Ambikapur Mu-
nicipal Corporation’s sanitation budget, aims to
support vulnerable groups such as ragpickers
and the homeless while promoting city cleanli-
ness. The café serves about 20 people daily and
has played a role in reducing plastic waste sent
to landfills from over five tonnes annually in 2019
to just two tonnes in 2024. The city’s municipal
efforts, including this café, have contributed sig-
nificantly to Ambi Kapur being recognised as
one of India’s cleanest cities.
How the Cafe Works: Human Stories and Im-
pact
The garbage cafe accepts plastic items like
bottles, wrappers, and bags, offering nutritious
meals in return, often consisting of rice, vegeta-
ble curries, dal, roti, salad, and pickles. In an ar-
ticle by BBC, Staff member Sharada Singh Patel
highlights that the café goes beyond emptying
stomachs, it fosters environmental responsibility
mbi Kapur’s Garbage Café in Chhattis-
garh leads India’s fight against plastic by incentivising waste collection. For residents
Apollution and hunger by turning waste like Rashmi Mondal, who previously earned mea-
into meals, inspiring cleaner cities and social dig- gre amounts by selling scrap plastic, the café has
nity. been transformative.By collecting plastic daily
and exchanging it for food, her family’s food se-
India’s first Garbage Cafe, set up in Ambikapur, curity has improved significantly. This initiative
Chhattisgarh, since 2019, offers a distinctive so- has created a dignified platform for marginalized
lution to two persistent urban issues, plastic pol- communities, helping them participate actively
lution and hunger. This initiative enables people in waste reduction efforts while addressing hun-
to exchange plastic waste for food, with one ger.
kilogram of plastic earning a full lunch and half a Broader Background and Environmental Inte-
kilogram yielding breakfast snacks like samosas gration
or vada pav.
The Garbage Café forms part of a larger mu-
September 2025 PLASTICS NEWS 31
