Curry

Walking through the city of Ambikapur in India, the aroma of the Samous leaves a cafeteria called Garbage Café (Translated: “Basure cafeteria”). The name in itself is striking and has an explanation: here nobody pays with rupees, but with garbage, specifically, with plastic. An unusual restaurant. In a BBC chronicle They have reported the visit To this cafeteria at the beginning of the year. The premises opened in 2019, promoted by the Municipal Ambikapur Corporation (AMC) and financed with its sanitation budget. The motto made it clear: “More The Waste, Better The Taste” (more garbage, better flavor). Today, the restaurant feeds about 20 people every day and has gathered almost 23 tons of plastic in six years, According to municipal data collected by the BBC. The environmental impact is modest in volume, but symbolic: the plastic sent to landfills in Ambikapur was reduced from 5.4 tons per year in 2019 to 2 tons in 2024, according to Ritesh Saini, sanitation coordinator in the city. The backdrop. What happens in this city is relevant because India faces a plastic crisis of global dimensions. According to the Pollution Control Board Central (CPCB)India generates between 3.5 and 4 million tons of plastic waste per year, although other estimates raise the figure to 9 million, depending on the methodologies used. In addition, A THINK TANK CEEW report Summarize the gap: real recycling ranges between 13% and 60%, well below what is necessary. UNEP (UNEP) warns thatwithout structural changes, the global production of plastics could be tripled by 2060, and proposes an approach to “close the tap”: reduce, redesign, reuse and recycle. Besides, A study in Nature On macroplastic emissions, he concluded that in countries of the Global South, such as India, the main factor is unpaid garbage: tons of waste that end in rivers and oceans. Prohibitions against reality. In parallel, the Indian government introduced in 2022 A national prohibition of single -use plastics (bags, straws, cutlery, trays, sticks …) and reinforced the expanded responsibility of the producer (EPR), forcing companies to collect and recycle the containers they put in the market. However, compliance remains irregular, especially among small manufacturers, and much of the effort falls on the informal recycle sector, invisible and exposed to health risks. How does the cafeteria work? The exchange in the Café Garbage is simple, but for those who depend on it it is vital. A plastic kilo is equivalent to a complete dish with rice, vegetable curris, dal, roti bread, salad and pickled; Half a kilo is enough for a breakfast or vada pav breakfast. As the BBC article collectsthe collected material is delivered to the 20 Decentralized Management Centers (SLRM) of the city. There, about 480 women, known as Swachhata Didis (Cleaning sisters), do the door by door and classify the waste into more than 60 categories. This system not only allows most of the materials to be recovered, but also created stable jobs. The final destination is varied. On the one hand, part is granula to make roads or sold to recyclers. On the other hand, organic waste becomes compost. While the non -recyclable fraction is sent to cement companies as an alternative fuel. According to the BBCthis treatment network is one of the keys that have turned Ambikapur into a “zero landfill” city. However, deficiencies persist. While the workers of the centers have gloves and masks, the street collection that carry plastic to the coffee – many vulnerability – do not usually have protection. The Minal Pathak researcher, from the University of Ahmedabad, warns of the risk of handling plastics mixed with organic remains, shear objects or even toxic waste. For people like Rashmi Mondal, a regular user, coffee has meant a relief: “I used to sell the plastic kilo for just 10 rupees (about 12 cents). Now I can feed my family with what I pick up,” explained to the British environment. A model that extends. The formula has not remained in Ambikapur. In Siliguri (West Bengal) It has been offered since 2019 A free meal to those who deliver half a kilo of plastic. That same year, in Mulugu (Telangana), A program was launched which changes a kilo of plastic for another kilo of rice. More recently, in MySuru (Karnataka), the public canteen allow since 2024 Card 500 grams of plastic for a breakfast or a kilo for a complete meal. In Uttar Pradesh, some projects have chosen to deliver compresses to women in exchange for plastic waste. The model also reached the capital. Delhi opened more than 20 coffees in 2020, but most closed shortly after. Those responsible pointed out the lack of waste segregation, low public knowledge and weakness of recycling infrastructure as the main causes, As detailed to the BBC. Beyond the plate. In Ambikapur, a plate of Dal and Rice can start with a bunch of wrappers rescued from the street. For Ram Yadav, A collector interviewed by The Guardian in 2019: “Hot food lasts all day, and it makes me feel that I am on a table like anyone.” It will not solve the plastic or hunger crisis, but it shows that local solutions can add dignity, urban cleaning and collective consciousness. What happens from here – produce less, redesign better, meet the standards and protect those who support the system – will decide whether this experience is a luminous anecdote or the beginning of a broader change. Image | Unspash and Unspash Xataka | The hoteliers promised them happy in a summer of record tourism. Until the ghost reserves arrived