In France, the Rugby World Cup and the Olympic Games are on people’s minds, but in Tokyo another sporting competition is awaited. From November 20 to 23, 2023, the city will host the first Waste Collection World Cup. A French team will be present.
For months, Japan has been preparing to welcome competitors from around the world. The Japanese also want to be sure to have the best team, it is their country which is at the origin of this sport, whose official name, SpoGomi, is the contraction of “sport” and “gomi” the waste or the trash in Japanese.
Little litter in the streets
The Japanese are extremely meticulous. The country’s large cities are very clean, there is very little rubbish on the ground even though, for years, there have been no public trash cans in the streets. Everyone is used to bringing their waste home and sorting it. The Japanese all have three or four different trash cans at home depending on the nature of the waste. Companies, too, organize street outings every quarter so that their employees can spend a few minutes cleaning the area. They explain that this is part of their social responsibility. Seeing all these activities linked to waste collection, enthusiasts, often activists for the ecological cause, officially launched the SpoGomi competitions in 2008.
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One hour to make a difference
SpoGomi is a team sport with three or five players on each team. There is no gender problem, girls and boys are mixed, regardless of age. Then all the teams meet in a neighborhood determined by the jury. They are only allowed to pick up litter on the ground on selected streets. When the kick-off is given, they have one hour to collect, without running, as much waste as possible and ensure that each piece of waste is properly sorted. Cans with cans, combustible waste together, recyclable plastic separately, and so on. If it’s done poorly, there are points deducted. After 60 minutes, it’s the final whistle and the waste is weighed. The team that has collected the most, by weight, and has achieved perfect sorting, wins the competition.
In Tokyo, for the World Cup in November, there will be group matches and then final stages. The competition will welcome Thais, Malaysians, Americans and even Swedes, more than twenty countries will be represented. And there will be a French team, it was selected at the beginning of September during a major competition at Mée-sur-Seine, in Seine-et-Marne.