Sustainability & Engagement, 15 October 2026

World Cleanup Day: Wedding ring, dentures and more than 2,400 bags of rubbish

ERGO is also supporting the organisation Healthy Seas with a donation

During World Cleanup Day, ERGO teams around the world joined local efforts to remove litter from public spaces and draw attention to everyday waste. Over 5,100 employees took part, clearing paths and green areas, and ERGO is also supporting marine conservation with a donation to the organisation Healthy Seas.

When one of the Düsseldorf teams picked a gold wedding ring out of the grass, there was a moment of disbelief. Shortly before, they had already found a brooch and a full set of dentures among plastic bottles and cigarette ends. These and other objects resurfaced – along with a fairly simple question: how much waste do we leave behind each day?

Across the globe, more than 5,100 ERGO volunteers were out again this year trying to make that question a little more tangible. In parks, on beaches, up in the hills and in city centres, they filled more than 2,400 bags with rubbish. The haul ranged from electronic waste – computer monitors, cables, a fan heater – to scrap metal such as bicycle rims, broken barbecues and old armchairs, and on to carpets, countless plastic bottles, cigarette butts and the tiniest fragments of plastic. Much of it is the sort of material that usually disappears into the background of daily life; on this day, it was laid out in front of them.

“The event showed very clearly how much waste we produce,” the team from ERGO Klassik Leben reported. “The many positive reactions from passers‑by were also a great source of motivation.” People stopped, said thank you, asked questions; litter became a talking point.

From Beijing to Cape Town: a global clean‑up effort

ERGO’s World Cleanup Day activities were more widely spread than ever before: 25 entities in 19 markets took part, from Australia to Brazil, and from Norway to India.

In China, colleagues headed for the mountains outside Beijing. Thirty‑seven employees spent the day clearing paths and slopes of litter, filling more than 20 bags of waste, each with a capacity of 30 litres. As well as removing rubbish from the landscape, the initiative helped raise awareness of more responsible handling of waste and encouraged many participants to carry that mindset into their everyday routines.

Another cleanup team in Düsseldorf found, alongside an old guitar, a torn winter coat and an empty rucksack, large numbers of cigarette butts, bottle caps, empty glass bottles, party confetti and other small pieces of plastic. These tiny items are particularly labour‑intensive to collect and are also regarded as especially problematic for soils and waterways.

Heat, wind and teamwork

The importance of commitment, rather than perfect conditions, was clear in South Africa. Euro Center Cape Town reported an “incredible turnout” of 62 employees despite strong winds in the city. “It was inspiring to see everyone come together with such positive energy and the shared will to make a difference,” colleagues in Cape Town said.

On the beach at Larnaca in Cyprus, it was, in contrast, “a typical September day – hot and humid”. Even so, staff rolled up their sleeves. “It felt good to make a small contribution to keeping this beautiful part of Larnaca clean,” they reported. In Sydney, the cleanup walk sparked ideas for “walk and talk” meetings and a lunchtime walking group. With 57 per cent of staff taking part, Euro Center Sydney illustrated how environmental engagement, team spirit and wellbeing can be closely linked.

A prompt that goes beyond a single day

Looking at the piles of rubbish at the end of the day, many participants took away more than just the memory of a clean‑up action. “The ERGO World Cleanup Day was not only a successful tidy‑up, but also an important prompt to question our own behaviour,” was the conclusion from Germany.

The activities form part of a longer‑term shift that is central to the World Cleanup Day movement: away from one‑off clean‑ups towards more lasting changes in habits. While picking up litter can help reduce immediate impacts on local environments, the larger effect comes when less waste is produced in the first place.

World Cleanup Day at ERGO – key figures

5,172 ERGO volunteers worldwide
More than 2,400 bags of rubbish collected
25 entities in 19 markets involved
Donation to Healthy Seas: €15,000

Digital Cleanup: reducing invisible waste

In China, Germany, Austria and Poland, ERGO complemented the physical clean‑up with a “Digital Cleanup”. All employees were invited to delete digital “legacy” items such as out‑of‑date emails, unused files or duplicates.

Over the campaign period, the volume of stored data in the participating companies fell by around 70.8 terabytes. This reduction cannot be attributed solely to the Digital Cleanup initiative, but it does illustrate the potential contribution that more conscious digital housekeeping can make. Lower data volumes can, over time, help to reduce energy demand in data storage and processing.

ERGO supports Healthy Seas underwater clean up in Croatia

At the end of June, the harbour of Bakar in Croatia became the setting for a combined underwater clean‑up, environmental education day and community event, made possible in part by ERGO’s donation from the 2025 Cleanup Day.

5 Healthy Seas volunteer divers and 10 volunteers from the local Sports & Maritime Association, supported by local fishers, removed around 400 kilograms of marine litter from the water and cleaned approximately 500 square metres of seabed.
At the same time, 285 pupils from the primary school in Bakar learned at the water’s edge what the sea beneath the surface looks like – and how discarded materials can affect it.

The activity was carried out with support from ERGO’s donation to Healthy Seas and highlights how clean‑up efforts on land and below the waterline can complement each other.