The Garbage Cafe

Every day, hungry people arrive at this cafe in Ambikapur, a city in the state of Chhattisgarh in central India, in the hope of getting a hot meal. But they don’t pay for their food with money – instead, they hand over bundles of plastic such as old carrier bags, food wrappers and water bottles.

People can trade a kilogram (2.2lb) of plastic waste for a full meal that includes rice, two vegetable curries, dal, roti, salad and pickles, says Vinod Kumar Patel, who runs the cafe on behalf of the Ambikapur Municipal Corporation (AMC), the public body which manages the city’s infrastructure and services. “For half a kilogram of plastic, they get breakfast like samosas or vada pav.”

…”I’ve been doing this work for years,” Mondal says, looking at the small pile of plastic she has gathered. Previously, Mondal used to sell the plastic she collected to local scrap dealers for just 10 Indian rupees (£0.09/$0.12) per kilogram – barely enough to survive on. “But now, I can get food for my family in exchange for the plastic I collect. It makes all the difference in our lives.”

Here is the full story.  The Cafe is supported through public funds.