Korea Youth Work AgencyITA SeoulThe Duke of Edinburgh's International Award, KoreaKorea Youth Challenge Award
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Take part

World Cleanup Day

2026
World Cleanup Day

Walk, pick up, log it.You can plan it as Voluntary Service for either Youth Award.

Get your participant numberSee how to start

7 Sept – 31 Octanywhere in Korea

Free. Open to everyone in Korea.

Two ways to begin

Someone recording a street on their phone

On your own

It is not only picking litter up. Cleaner streets, less waste, less energy — log it all at your own pace.

  1. 1Get your participant number
  2. 2Log what you pick up in the app
Get your number
Young people crouched around a street drain, logging what they find

With friends

Start a team, invite friends, and pool what you log into one team record.

  1. 1Get your participant number
  2. 2Name your team
  3. 3Invite friends and log together
Get your number

What you can do

Both run for the whole campaign, 7 September to 31 October — join any time. Whichever you choose, it all lands in the same record. Start on your own and it still counts towards what we build together.

Data Plogging

Walk, pick up litter, and count each item by type.

7 Sept – 31 Oct, any time · gloves and a bag are all you need
Zero Waste

Log everyday choices that stop waste before it starts.

Tumbler · finishing your plate · carton recycling — 26 in all
Safety comes first
Finish before darkPlan an afternoon clean-up to end well before sunset.
Stay where you knowYour campus, your neighbourhood, a nearby park. Somewhere new — bring someone with you.
Keep away from roads and waterRivers, the sea and busy roads only at an organised event with staff on site.
Leave anything heavyIf a bag is too heavy, or something looks sharp or hazardous, leave it and tell us.

Look out for these

Tue 15 Sept, 14:00Schools & groups

Beach Scientists for Youth

Clean a beach and build a field guide of what you find.

Schools, groups and Award centres apply
Apply for the OT (form in Korean)
Fri 18 Sept, 14:30On site

Busan, connecting coasts

A joint cleanup at Dadaepo, Busan (planned).

An on-site event during World Cleanup Day
Opening soon

How the number works

Registering creates an ITA City account for you. If you already have one, we use it — you do not sign up twice.

The number itself is your place in line for World Cleanup Day 2026. One number per person; it does not change if you register again, and everything you log stays under it.

Anyone can take part, at any age, whether or not you are in a Youth Award. If you do want it to count, your Award Leader has to approve the plan before you start — activities done before approval are not counted.

World Cleanup Day

From Clean Plates to Clean Cities

More than a billion meals are wasted around the world every day, while millions of people go hungry and live without basic services. Food waste loads our waste systems, drives climate change, and squanders the land and water it took to grow — and it costs us the chance to build fairer, steadier systems in their place.

On 20 September 2026 people across the world come together for World Cleanup Day. It is more than picking litter up: it is a movement to change the systems that produce the waste in the first place.

1.1 billionPeople living in informal settlements
8–10%Of greenhouse gases, from food waste
1 billion+Meals wasted every day

More than picking things up

A cookbook for anyone starting out on zero waste — ideas, encouragement and practical tips for building a sustainable life your own way. 26 of them, in seven kinds. Keep one going for a long time, or run several at once.

At the table5
Cook at homeEat more plantsFinish your plateReusable containersRefill your water
Drinks1
Bring a tumbler
Sorting it right7
Carton recyclingClear PET bottlesBottle caps offReturn your bottlesOld batteriesOld phonesPay-as-you-throw bags
Buying less6
Bring your own bagRefill stationsSecondhand and givingGreener productsCarry a handkerchiefCloth, not paper towel
Using less3
Unplug at nightMind the thermostatDigital receipts
Riding less2
Take public transportA day on foot
Spreading the word2
Join a campaignPlant a tree
Fri 18 September (planned)International Coastal Cleanup at DadaepoDadaepo Beach, Saha-gu, Busan (planned)
Fri 14:30 – 16:30 (planned)Dadaepo Beach, Busan

Busan, connecting coasts

Dadaepo is where the Nakdong River meets the sea. The sand of its 900 m beach was carried down by that river — which also means that what travels down the river stops here.

We are not only picking things up that day. Each of us logs what we found, how many, and how far we walked, from our own phone. Put together, those records become Dadaepo's day.

It is an event we are holding in Busan during World Cleanup Day. If you are nearby, or free that day, please come and be part of it.

Place and date are still being arranged. We will post them here first, then email everyone who registered.
A globe with Dadaepo Beach marked
World Cleanup Day takes place in more than 190 countries on 20 September.
Date
Fri 18 September 2026, 14:30 – 16:30 (planned)
Where
Dadaepo Beach, Saha-gu, Busan (planned)
Meet
To be confirmed — we will post it here
Deadline
To be confirmed

If getting around is difficult

The beach is a short walk from Dadaepo Beach station on Busan Metro Line 1.

We are checking the toilets, parking and ramps on site and will post what we find here.

Tell us in advance. We will arrange someone to accompany you and take part on the paved section. Call +82 70-8015-4141 or message us on KakaoTalk.

We bringGloves, bags, drinking water
You bringHat, sunscreen, comfortable shoes
ChildrenWelcome with a guardian
CostNone

Join World Cleanup Day 2026

What we have counted so far

Jan – Aug 2026, nationwide

986,598 items counted. Of those, Cigarette butts came to 629,937 — more than the other 8 categories put together.

  • Cigarette butts629,93763.8%
  • General waste110,98711.2%
  • Paper92,8529.4%
  • Bags and film72,4237.3%
  • Hard plastic33,9193.4%
  • PET bottles19,3652.0%
  • Cans14,6461.5%
  • Styrofoam8,3460.8%
  • Glass4,1230.4%

ITA City open data (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Connected to the Global Goals

Sustainable Development Goal 14
Sustainable Development Goal 12
Sustainable Development Goal 11
Sustainable Development Goal 4
Sustainable Development Goal 13
Sustainable Development Goal 17

Turn today's clean-up into an Award challenge

You can plan your World Cleanup Day activity as part of the Voluntary Service section of the Award.

Ages 14 – 24The Duke of Edinburgh's International AwardCan be planned as Voluntary Service
Ages 7 – 15Korea Youth Challenge AwardCan be planned as Voluntary Service

What is the Youth Award?

The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award began in 1956, started by the Duke of Edinburgh. Young people in more than 130 countries take part today. It is a programme for growing on your own terms.

You set your own goals across four areas — voluntary service, skills, physical recreation and adventurous journey — and keep at them.

In Korea there are two. The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award is for ages 14 to 24. The Korea Youth Challenge Award grew out of it for ages 7 to 15, shaped around what younger participants actually do.

Your World Cleanup Day activity — data plogging and the rest — can be planned as Voluntary Service in either one.

Start with something small for the environment, and see where it takes you.

You do not need to be a Korean national. Foreign nationals living in Korea have joined and received the Award.

Award enquiries · Korea Youth Work Agency ☎ +82 2-330-2877

If you are counting this towards the Award

  • Agree your Voluntary Service plan with your Award Leader and get it approved before you start.
  • Write up your activity log afterwards, the way the Award asks you to.
  • Each level has a minimum you have to meet — how long you keep going and how many times. Each session counts from 60 minutes (International) or 40 minutes (Youth Challenge).
  • Joining the campaign does not complete anything on its own. It counts when your leader has approved it and you have logged it.

New to the Award?

If World Cleanup Day is what gets you started, here is how it works. This is separate from your participant number — skip it if you are already enrolled.

  1. Sign up at e-Youthwww.youth.go.kr — Korea's youth activity portal
  2. Ask about joiningWrite to minjk@kywa.or.kr or call +82 2-330-2877. They will put you in touch with an Award centre and a leader near you.
  3. Plan your activity with your Award LeaderSet your goal, agree the plan, get it approved — then start.
  4. Keep going for Bronze, Silver, GoldVoluntary Service is one of four sections, alongside Skills, Physical Recreation and Adventurous Journey. Meet the requirements for each and you earn the Award.

Enrolment fee Bronze level costs KRW 30,000. It is waived for young people on basic livelihood support, in low-income single-parent households, in the near-poverty bracket, or living in rural and remote areas — supporting documents required.

Take part

You can take part anywhere in Korea between 7 September and 31 October. There is no fee.

  1. Sign up and registerA nickname, a password, your email and mobile number.
  2. An account is createdIf this is your first time, an ITA City account is created with it. If you already have one, we use it.
  3. You get your place in lineThe number is which participant you are for World Cleanup Day 2026.

Get your participant number

Contact

Campaign
ITA Seoul +82 70-8015-4141
International Award
Korea Youth Work Agency +82 2-330-2877

한국어 페이지

HostsKorea Youth Work AgencyITA Seoul

Hosted by Korea Youth Work Agency × ITA Seoul · Linked with The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award and the Korea Youth Challenge Award

The theme text and figures are adapted from UN-Habitat's “World Cleanup Day 2026” briefing.

7 Sept – 31 OctTake part