“Plastic pollution is one of the biggest challenges facing our environment today and sport – like any other industry – has an urgent responsibility to address it. The IOC’s Plastic Game Plan for Sport aims to provide sports organizations, event organizers, athletes and fans with clear, step-by-step guidance on how to eliminate plastic waste from their operations and everyday lives.” - Marie Sallois, IOC Director of Corporate and Sustainable Development.

In June 2018, the International Olympic Committee announced an ambitious plan to eliminate single-use plastics from the organization and its events around the world with seven major sporting bodies and representatives from over 20 National Olympic Committees taking action in support of the Clean Seas campaign. World Sailing, the International Association of Athletics Federations, the International Triathlon Union, the International Ice Hockey Federation, World Rugby, World Golf and the International Surfing Association were among the organizations to sign up to cut plastic waste.

The IOC has taken action to reduce waste at its headquarters with thousands of items being removed, as well as at the Olympic Museum, and is working to drive responsible material use at all IOC events in collaboration with its suppliers.

In January 2020, in collaboration with UNEP, the IOC launched a new guide, Plastic Game Plan for Sport, to assist sporting organizations, from amateur to professional sport, tackle plastic pollution. The guide provides event organizers with actionable steps and tips on how to create effective plans to reduce plastic waste.

“We take our environmental responsibilities very seriously. We have taken steps towards becoming a sustainable and green sport but there is still lots of potential to explore. We are delighted that all of our environmental work has been aligned with this international organization. Partners are increasingly joining the fight against pollution.” - Hua Yun, Xiamen Marathon Committee.  

The Xiamen International Marathon has sought to become a model of sustainability in sport. The race, which attracts tens of thousands of runners to the Chinese coastal city of Xiamen every year, joined the Clean Seas campaign in 2019, becoming the first marathon event to do so.

In 2019, the marathon organizers pledged to reduce plastic waste by 60 per cent through a series of measures that included replacing nearly 1 million single-use plastic cups with biodegradable ones made from maize straw. Single-use plastic bottles were also banned, eliminating some 200,000 bottles that would usually be discarded along the route.

In 2020, they went a step further, reusing and recycling waste wherever possible and setting up a plastic bank at the end of the course to encourage participants to deposit plastic to be recycled and used at next year’s marathon.

"Sporting events, especially those that make use of the natural features of our land and sea that risk being lost to climate change have a huge opportunity to raise awareness of the global climate emergency. Sylt is on the frontline of climate change and it is exciting to see it step up to be on the frontline for positive climate action too." UNEP climate change expert Niklas Hagelberg.

In 2019, the world windsurfing championship on the tiny German island of Sylt was the most sustainable yet. Partnering with the Clean Seas campaign, organizers banned plastic bottles and disposable cutlery and arranged a beach clean-up so that all litter was removed after the event. All advertising material was recycled, mangroves were planted through sponsorship and the whole event was powered exclusively by green electricity. The event on the island, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, attracted 32 competing nations and was attended by 200,000 people. Awareness of the risks from climate change and environmental degradation is high on Sylt, which is vulnerable to sea-level rise and ocean surges from more frequent storms.