The third World Plogging Championship, which combines physical activity with respect for the environment, ended with the award ceremony for the world’s best ploggers. Approximately 3,000 kg of litter were recovered during the competition.
The 2023 competition ended on 1st October with a new record being set. The event, which brought together supporters of this sporting discipline for the third year running, ended with the collection of around 3,000 kg of litter, including over 2,000 kg, or 71% of the total, already sent for recycling, compared with 1,152 kg recovered at the end of the 2022 competition and 795 kg collected in 2021, the first year of the event.
It is also estimated that the competing athletes collected an average of 2.2 kg of litter per km travelled. Altogether, participants patrolled approximately 1,318 km of paths and roads over the 6 hours of the race.
The men’s World title was won this year by Manuel Jesús Ortega García, while the women’s title went to Elena Canuto, world champion last year.
This third event has a considerable social and environmental impact , reflected in the almost 6 million grams of CO2 not released into the atmosphere as a result of correctly separating and recycling the waste collected. These emissions are equal to the amount produced by a car travelling 60,000 km or 50 flights between Milan and Rome.
Pursuing the Protecting the environment and Promoting well-being missions of its Planet Goal, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo has strongly supported this initiative since the first annual event, identifying Plogging as a discipline that can truly inspire effective actions to address environmental challenges, thus helping to build a more sustainable world through sport as well.
Read the press release for more details about the 2023 World Championship.