On the 20th of September, the first-ever UN World Cleanup Day was held in Tromsø, Norway. Together with UN-Habitat and The Norwegian Retailers’ Environment Fund, GRID-Arendal coordinated and went to Tromsø, in the north of Norway, to mark the inauguration of the day.
The theme of this first World Cleanup Day was “Arctic Cities and Marine Litter.” The Arctic has fragile ecosystems. This, compared with extreme weather conditions, remoteness, and scarce infrastructure, makes the Arctic a challenging place to combat plastic pollution. To make cleanups possible in these harsh environments, it is necessary with professional cleanup strategies.
The event was held at the Fram Centre, and Michal Mlynár, the UN-Habitat Deputy Executive Director, spoke about the importance of this day. “Today marks a pivotal moment in our global fight against waste pollution. The first UN World Cleanup Day is not just about picking up litter, but about uniting communities, governments, and individuals in a shared mission to protect our planet. By coming together, we demonstrate that collective action is the most powerful tool we have to create a cleaner, healthier world for future generations,” said Michal Mlynár.
Therefore, it was with hope that Cecilie Lind, the CEO of the Norwegian Retailers’ Environment Fund explained the Norwegian retail sector’s commitment to reducing waste and how the fund helps support cleanup efforts in Norway and globally.
Speaking on behalf of the Norwegian Retailers’ Environment Fund, Cecilie Lind expressed Norway’s pride in hosting the event: “We are honoured to share our knowledge and inspire other nations to implement professional, nationwide clean-ups. Our ‘Cleanup Norway in Time’ initiative has already removed more than three million kilograms of plastic and waste, and we hope this day motivates similar actions worldwide.” A video explaining the Norwegian initiative can be watched here.
Sigrun Wiggen Prestbakmo, the State Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development spoke about the Norwegian government’s commitment to supporting local and regional cleanup initiatives as part of a broader environmental strategy. "We are proud to showcase a Norwegian model of financing which ensures that environmental goals are reached,” said Prestbakmo.
Gunnar Wilhelmsen, the Mayor of Tromsø, spoke about Tromsø’s unique geographic position and responsibility as a key player in protecting the Arctic environment. "As the host city for the first-ever UN World Cleanup Day, Tromsø is proud to stand at the forefront of global environmental action. As an Arctic city, we understand the urgency of protecting vulnerable ecosystems, and today, we are joining forces with the world to ensure a cleaner, more sustainable future for all", stated Wilhelmsen.
The artwork ‘Anthropocene’ was made by Valentin Manz and Christine Cynn at the event. The materials used are plastic found by coastal cleaners employed by the Cleanup Norway in Time program. It was woven together with messages from attendees at the event in Tromsø.
During the event, NRK did an interview with Cecilie Lind, CEO of NREF, and Lars Stordal, Principal Expert at GRID-Arendal. This interview can be seen here at 25.45.
“The most important thing we can do is to agree on an ambitious global agreement on plastics. But even if we do, there will be a need for scalable solutions to clean up our coastlines for years to come, and the NREF model is a good example of that” says Lars Stordal, Principal Expert at GRID-Arendal.
At the same time as the event was happening in Tromsø, GRID-Arendal did a local cleanup outside the office area that lies on the seaside of Arendal.
Guinness World Record swimmer Sarah Ferguson also spoke at the event. She created the South Africa based non-profit marine conservation organisation “Breath Conservation” to help combat plastic pollution.
With its remote and extreme nature, the Arctic provides challenges when it comes to cleaning the ocean of litter.
"In the Arctic, cleanups will remain a crucial effort for decades to address the issue of plastics carried by ocean currents, among other sources and pollutants. However, to prevent further waste from entering the ocean through Arctic cities and remote communities, it is essential for both local and national governments to take responsibility and implement lasting solutions. For instance, improving port facilities for managing fishing gear waste is one crucial step. Effective cooperation on coordination across stakeholders and industrial synergies is essential to ensuring proper waste management in the Arctic," said Helene Svendsen, Senior Expert in Polar and Climate at GRID-Arendal. She was also published in the local newspaper iTromsø.
Plastic has found its way to every corner of the Earth, from the highest altitudes and the poles to the deepest oceans. The global consumption of plastic is still increasing, and even set to accelerate. Half of the plastic that currently exist has been produced since year 2000, and by 2050 this is set to double.
It is estimated that only 9 percent of the plastic that has ever been produced has been recycled and 12 percent has been incinerated. The UN Environment Programme has estimated that between 19 to 23 tonnes of plastic is released into the ocean each year.
Plastic particles can be found in the digestive tract of seabirds, marine mammals, turtles, fish, and spineless animals. When the plastic enters their intestines and stomach, it can cause a false feeling of being full and block their systems from taking up the nutrition that they need to survive.
When the plastic is small enough, so called nano plastic, scientists believe that the plastic can enter the blood circulation and be stored in bodily tissue of both animals and humans. Several types of chemicals that is added to plastic to make it either hard or soft can also affects both animals and humans' health negatively.
Luckily, there is a solution coming from Norway –The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund. Funded by the plastic bags customers buy in the stores, The Norwegian Retailers' Environment Fund finances both professional and volunteer cleanup projects all over Norway. So far, over 40 percent of Norway's coastline has been cleaned up, 10 400 boat wrecks has been removed from nature and over 5600 tons of garbage has been cleaned. The model has several elements that are transferable to other countries facing similar situations.
This is why we needed World Cleanup Day to become an official UN-day. We need to be reminded every year that this is a man-made problem, and for man-made problems we need to have man-made solutions. We need platforms where awareness can be raised on these solutions and knowledge shared between countries.
There is also hope that the world will get a treaty on plastic this year in November. In order to reduce and better regulate the amount of plastic that is circulating, we also need to close the loop and recycle better.
If you want to watch the entire event, you can watch it here.
© 2026 GRID-Arendal
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