UK wins Japan’s first world championship of competitive rubbish collection

British team wins after collecting over 57kg of litter

Participants collecting litter in the first world championship of spogomi (Screengrab/Reuters)

Japan on Wednesday held the first world championship of a unique sport of rubbish collection.

As many as 21 countries participated in the competition that involved scouting for empty cans, bits of plastic, and cigarettes on the streets of Tokyo, with Britain lifting the first Spogomi World Cup.

Launched in 2008, it takes its name from the words “sport” and “gomi” – Japanese for rubbish. Its inventor, Kenichi Mamitsuka, used to pick up litter on his morning runs and realised that setting targets could turn it into a fun activity, reported AFP.

“If you form national spogomi associations, my ambition is that it could become an Olympic demonstration event,” he told the wire agency.

The competitors, including teams from the US, Australia, and France, collected a total of 548kg of litter, according to organisers.

Armed with gloves, metal tongs and rubbish bags, each team was made up of three players who were awarded points based on the amount and types of litter they picked up.

Collecting rubbish from private properties was not allowed, and the players were given 20 minutes after each session to sort litter into different categories including burnable waste, recyclable plastic bottles, metal cans, cigarette butts and others.

“It’s frustrating because we wanted to win this event,” Tomoe Takahashi, a member of the Japanese team from Niigata Prefecture, was quoted as saying by The Mainichi. “But I hope more people around the world will be interested in environmental issues.”

The UK earned the top spot with 9,046.1 points for collecting a total of 57.27kg of rubbish.

The second World Cup is scheduled to be held in Tokyo in 2025.