The 13th Tisza PET Cup has ended

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 08. 19. 10:31

The XIII. Tisza PET Cup, which is the oldest in the series of river cleaning competitions, has concluded, as it was the start of the environmental movement in 2013. Between August 9-14, the 15 participating teams cleaned the floodplain between Balsa and Tiszadob over a length of 58 river kilometers. However, this time, no quantitative record was broken: the participants found “only” 9 tons of waste, which indicates that areas that have already been cleaned are more slowly re-polluted.

In 2024, the V. Bodrogi – XII. Tisza PET Cup ended with a record amount of 17.5 tons of collected floodplain waste. Fortunately, the trend did not continue, thanks partly to last year’s thorough cleaning (part of this year’s section was the same as in 2024), partly to the fact that fewer flood waves descended on the Tisza in the spring, so no replenishment arrived from Transcarpathia. Finally, the smaller amount is also due to the fact that the organizer PET Cup Association shortened the duration of the big race, instead of 8 days, the “fluffy race” lasted only 6 days this time. This also meant that, contrary to tradition, the teams only had 1 day to build the boat, and then they worked on the water for 5 days, meaning they missed the rest day. In the sweltering heat, this was a serious challenge, and in addition, the current is not strong on this section of the river, and the boats often had to be towed. Despite this, the petkalós held on heroically! All this is a big deal considering that 20% of the 260-person field consisted of people under the age of 18.

In addition to the large number of children, the field was also strengthened by newcomers, 6 out of the 15 teams took to the water for the first time. Two of them were international, the Austrian team Be Brave To Act also reached the finish line with a crew of 4, as did the EYPW (European Youth Parliament of Water) team, whose crew included French, Portuguese, Turkish, German and Croatian participants.

The last day’s stage led the pet pirates to unknown waters, as the PET Cup competition had never been between Tiszadada and Tiszadob before. The river cleaners found little waste over the 8-kilometre course, which was somewhat disappointing, but the experience of opening and crossing the Tiszadob pontoon bridge made up for it.

Of course, the traditional programs – beyond waste collection – were also not left out: there was a PETathlon, Pirate Battle, quiz and PET-a-Star, where PETs could also be collected.