Britain cleans up at the first ever Litter Picking World Cup: UK team are crowned champions in Japan after collecting 83kg of rubbish in 45 minutes

Britain finally manage to bag some gold medals at an international competition, after three Brits won the first-ever world litter-picking championships by picking up 83kg of rubbish in just 45 minutes. 

Alexander Winship, Jonathan Winship and Sarah Parry, who competed as a team under the name 'The North will Rise Again', beat 20 countries in the Spogomi World Cup 2023, held in Tokyo's bustling Shibuya district on Wednesday. 

The trio managed to blow the other competitors out of the water, winning by nearly 3,000 points after bagging 61 pounds more rubbish than their closest rival, Japan, which came in second place. 

Parry, 28, told the Times: 'It's such a good sport. It's so strategic and intense; physically, psychologically. It involves real teamwork, it's absolutely exhausting. 

'You only get a certain number of bags. You have to decide what type of litter you're going to pick up depending on how many points each category is worth.'

Competitors, armed with gloves, metal tongs and plastic rubbish bags, have to collect as much litter as possible in a tiny 1.9 square mile area of Shibuya, known for housing two of the busiest railway stations in the world, in just 45 minutes. 

They then have 20 minutes to sort their litter, and are awarded points based on the type and amount of rubbish collected. 

Burnable and non-burnable rubbish earns 10 points per 100 grams, cans and bottles earn 12 per 100 grams and PET plastic bottles earn 25 points. 

Cigarette butts, meanwhile, are the most valuable pieces of rubbish to collect, as players can earn 100 points per 100 grams. 

Each team is followed closely by a referee, to make sure they do not break the strict rules. 

Competitors are not allowed to run through the streets, nor are they allowed to pick through rubbish bins or shadow other teams. 

Sarah Parry, a British doctor, managed to make it to the Japan finals by winning the London qualifiers, held in east London's Hackney Downs, after her brother won the heats n Brazil. 

She and her partner Alexander, along with his brother Jonathan, managed to beat the 25 other teams competing against them in London, after becoming 'heavily invested' within five minutes of starting. 

Parry said that she and her team had to prioritise items including scrap metal, as they were able to pick up heavier items more quickly. 

She added that her small frame gave their team an advantage, as she was able to fit into the nooks and crannies of Shibuya. 

'What I can't do is carry 50kg, so we worked as a team. At one point Alex was carrying about 18kg worth of rubbish on him for two miles while Jonny and I just dotted around him adding to the pile as we could.' 

Parry, who has run 31 marathons in her life, said the level of exhaustion was similar to than of running 26 miles.

Spogomi founder Kenichi Mamitsuka started to pick up litter on his morning runs and realised that setting targets could turn it into a fun activity.

He organised his first competition 15 years ago, taking the title from the words 'sport' and 'gomi' - Japanese for rubbish.

He said watching the event's maiden world championship was 'like a dream', but he optimistically believes it can grow to an even bigger scale.

'If you form national spogomi associations, my ambition is that it could become an Olympic demonstration event,' he told revealed in front of a portion of the almost 1,200 pounds of rubbish collected by participants.

He said he believes changing the way people think about rubbish is key.

Mamitsuka says that people thought he was 'making fun of activities that contribute to society' at first.

But then he began to hear stories about people getting involved and passing on good habits to their children.

'It made me think that I should keep going,' he added.

'Our target is to have spogomi events in 50 countries by 2030.'