Britain cleans out competition at rubbish-clearing SpoGomi World Cup in Tokyo, Japan
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Britain’s team, “The North Will Rise Again”, beat the host Japanese trio into second place by earning 9,046.1 points for collecting 57.27kg (126.26 pounds) of rubbish.
![Members of team UK pose with their victory trophy at the “Spogomi World Cup” in Tokyo. Photo: Reuters](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2023/11/24/fdf070d1-8d6b-4c0f-9e6c-bc1a1aac6a8c_361f9850.jpg)
“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,” team captain Sarah Parry said after collecting the trophy on Wednesday.
“It’s been a really good experience.”
Japan’s famously high standards of hygiene and cleanliness made finding rubbish challenging for some of the competitors.
“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.”
The name SpoGomi comes from the conflation of an abbreviation of “sport” with the Japanese word for rubbish, which is gomi.
![A member of team India sorts out rubbish which they collected during the “Spogomi World Cup”. Photo: Reuters](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2023/11/24/cb765fef-2dd3-438b-8f22-63e5c3770a7c_0d2dcb50.jpg)
“The first important thing is to make people who are not yet aware of the marine waste problem realise the situation of litter in the ocean,” said Executive Director Mitsuyuki Unno.
“The second purpose of this event is to provide opportunities for people who have become aware of the issue and want to take some actions.”
The second World Cup is planned for 2025.
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