A team from the UK won the first world championship in competitive waste collection, which was held in Tokyo, reports The Independent.
Teams from more than 20 countries took part in the competition. The UK scored 9 thousand points, collecting a total of 57,27kg of waste.
The competition involved searching for empty cans, pieces of plastic and cigarette butts on the streets of Tokyo. Each team of three players, armed with gloves, metal tongs and trash bags, received points based on the amount and type of trash collected.
In total, the participants of the international championship managed to collect 548 kg of garbage.
The idea for a garbage collection competition known as “spogomi” originated in Japan in 2008. Its inventor, Kenichi Mamitsuka, previously collected trash during his morning runs. He realized that collecting trash could be fun if done correctly.
The second “spogomi” World Championship is planned to be held in Tokyo in 2025.
