Mannivannan T. took to surfing when he was nine years old, when the Kovalam beach in Kerala was pristine. Over the years, garbage in the form of plastics and bottles has overrun the beach and he invests a good part of his time in cleaning a half kilometre stretch before surfing. The trash bins placed on the beach have long gone and there is no proper management of garbage thrown by the swarms of tourists every day. When he met Sharun A. during his surfing classes at a centre where he works, he learnt about Spogomi — a Japanese litter-picking sport, which seemed like a natural game for the surfer who is also a trained beach life guard and a fisherman.

Since its launch in Japanese schools in 2008 to encourage children to pick up litter, Spogomi has evolved into a global trash collecting competition. This year’s World Cup in Japan will see an official Indian team participating for the second time. Heaving sacks of garbage around needs strength, which is why two powerlifters — Sharun and Abishek K.V. — are accompanying Manivannan this October to compete in the biennial Spogomi World Cup in Tokyo, Japan. “I think it’s a very good game to teach people not to litter and create awareness over time,” Manivannan said.

The U.K. emerged as the winner in the first Spogomi World Cup in 2023 in Tokyo where 21 teams took part. The Indian team ranked sixth. This year, Manivannan is confident of victory as the team is strong and motivated.

Trash and fitness

From beach clean-up events in Chennai’s Marina to getting selected as the official Indian team for a trash collecting World Cup competition in Japan, the journey has been a challenging one for the trio. Sharun, who was also part of the 2023 Indian team is training hard for his second World Cup participation. As a trustee of the Environmentalist Foundation of India, playing Spogomi was an extension of Sharun’s ethos. “Garbage collection is not a lackadaisical affair and involves speed. To train for this, we started cleaning up areas regularly to tighten our speed, timings and learnt to walk on the lines of Olympic walking by placing one heel on the ground as the [Spogomi] rules don’t permit running,” he said.

The competition brings together people who are interested in the environment and the last two years have witnessed increased participation and expansion in cities like Bengaluru. The first national level tournament for Spogomi to select the final team that qualifies for the World Cup, was held in Chennai in 2023 at Besant Nagar beach and Sharun had taken part in it. This year, about 100 people took part with 20 teams in the qualifiers which were held in Kempambudhi lake in Bengaluru in May 2025. Then, a National-level qualifier was held in Chennai, where the official Indian team was selected. The challenge involved teams of three collecting trash in a designated area of 1 km-radius circle within an hour and segregating the waste under specified categories in 30 minutes.

It is important to strategise in Spogomi, which has its own challenges as well. For example, the final qualifying round which was held in Chennai was during the summer and walking in the sand was very hot. The gruelling temperatures took a toll on the participants. “To be honest, I am a sucker for endurance sports, but the heat was unforgiving and my legs gave way at times,” said Abishek who was in the National Cadet Corps during his school days and has participated in Swachh Bharat clean-ups. The teams had to carry heavy bags of garbage and bear in mind the important rule that the distance between two players must not exceed ten metres.

The best teams from each country make it to the World Cup. While there were also several women’s teams that made it to the qualifiers in Chennai, it was a huge disappointment for Adhija Roy, a student from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bengaluru, as her team didn’t make the cut. However, she said that she met a lot of like-minded people during the events and was particularly impressed by the fact that something so necessary like trash collection was turned into a sport and it drew young people.

Competition rules

With only a few weeks left before the World Cup, the Indian team plans to do beach clean-ups in Kovalam for their practice. In Japan, the area for the competition may not be a beach. The location is not revealed till the last minute, Abishek said. In the previous World Cup, the competition was on the streets.

The Nippon Foundation organised the first competitive Spogomi event in 2013 and then in 2023 the rules were expanded to include a points-based system. This year, over 40 countries are expected to take part, said Nikhil Ravikumar, CEO of Float Events which organises the India stage of the Spogomi World Cup.

In the Spogomi World Cup, teams consist of three members, with a time limit of one hour, plus an additional 20 minutes for sorting the trash. The team that collects and segregates the most garbage to score more points, wins.

The game has a rule book with clear ‘do’s and don’ts’ and penalties in the form of points being deducted. Each item of waste has specific set of points with plastic bottles scoring 25 points for every 100 grams collected. There is a 75-point penalty for garbage segregated wrongly. The participants are not allowed to remove waste from garbage bins or collection points, and if the garbage is to be collected from the streets, the teams cannot violate the traffic rules.

Gamifying trash collection to bring a mindset shift

In India, picking up litter is not a widespread habit. The game makes a larger point about not littering and sends a message to keep the environment clean. “The beach clean-up had lots of alcohol bottles and plastic food wrappers, a sign that people were not using garbage cans provided on the beach,” Abishek added. The game can make a difference as there is an increasing mindset to keep areas clean and perhaps there should be rewards for trash collection as well. “We are not just chasing a trophy, we are chasing a change in the mindset. If we can inspire people to view trash differently, that is a win,” remarked Sharun.

While the sport is yet to gain popularity in India, events are being planned in different parts of the country, according to Subhashree, from Float Events who takes care of the organising and logistics. The aim is to expand the qualifiers to other parts of India and make it more participatory, she said. Meanwhile in Tokyo, where the last finals were held, a lot of people showed up, and there was extensive TV coverage. ”I was surprised,” remarked Sharun at the popularity of the sport beyond India.

Ravikumar said that the aim is to re-contextualise cleaning to be fun. “How do we clean spaces and make that a sport? While walking on the street if you see garbage most people would ignore it but Spogomi aims to make you feel conscious about trash. When you play the game and earn points, it also makes you feel you did something,” he said.

In terms of changes and impact, he said trash collection need not be a sober event, it can also be fun and that is what Spogomi aims to promote.  He said, “We feel it can make a difference in making people excited about cleaning up.”

In 2027, if the sport manages to get more support and sponsorships as it is more than just a beach clean-up event, it can spread to other parts of the country, Ravikumar said. “We would like more government support and also involve municipalities in the events as it is a question of city-level clean-ups,” he added.

Read more: The hidden menstrual waste crisis in the hills

Banner image: A Spogomi team with their supervisor. Image courtesy of Float Events.

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Priyanka Shankar Editor

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CoastPlasticPollutionWaste managementGlobalIndia

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