World’s First Garbage Collection Competition Held in Japan Joined by 21 Countries

Japan hosted the inaugural SpoGomi World Cup, a one-of-a-kind sports event centered on garbage collection. Teams from 21 different countries took part in the event, scouring Tokyo's streets for empty cans, plastic shards, and abandoned cigarettes.

Participating Countries for Garbage Collection

(Photo : Getty Images/ TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA)

Each team of three roamed a roughly 5-square-kilometer collection area in Tokyo's crowded Shibuya district, armed with gloves, metal tongs, and plastic garbage bags. Points were assigned depending on amount and type, with little objects like cigarette ends scoring well.

Running, ransacking existing litter bins, and trailing other teams were all prohibited, and each squad was accompanied by a referee to enforce the rules.

They had 45 minutes in the morning and afternoon sessions to find trash and another 20 minutes to categorize it into categories. Each team had to win national events to earn the privilege to represent their country in Tokyo. The team's motivations for participating vary.

Jamie Gray of Australia stated that his squad belonged to a meditation group and that "clean-up is part of our philosophy."

France's team had an edge as all three members work in the garbage collection industry. Some of the contestants struggled to detect trash due to Japan's well-known high standards of hygiene and cleanliness.

"Sometimes it was really hard because there wasn't really that much trash. But that's when we have to look a little bit deeper like in the bushes, or just really focus on the cigarette butts on the floor," said Team USA member Beatrice Hernandez.

The British team was declared champion after collecting 57.27 kilos (126.26 lbs) of trash and earning 9,046.1 points. Sarah Parry, the team captain, said trash-picking is a serious sport.

"A lot of the other teams maybe were more ecological and less sport, and we're probably the opposite, but we've taken so much away about how much we need to clean up our oceans and reduce litter," she added. The participating countries collectively collected a staggering 548 kilograms of litter.

SpoGomi World Cup

The name SpoGomi is a combination of the acronym "sport" and the Japanese word for rubbish, "gomi." It was created in 2008 to encourage people to pick up trash in public places, and it has risen in popularity to the point where there have been 230 contests staged across Japan this year.

Kenichi Mamitsuka, its creator, used to pick up litter on his morning runs and realized that establishing goals could make it into a pleasurable hobby.

"My ambition is for spogomi to become an Olympic demonstration event if national spogomi associations are formed," Mamitsuka said.

The organizer, the Nippon Foundation, stressed that the tournament was staged to promote awareness about environmental conservation, particularly minimizing plastic garbage streaming into the ocean. The event also creates an opportunity for people to become aware of the problem and take action. Tokyo will host the second Spogomi World Cup in 2025, with more countries expected to participate.