Tokyo 2020 Olympics’ Medals Will Be Made From Recycled Electronic Waste

The 2020 Olympics are going to be held in Japan, and the hosting country is on track to ensure that this leading international sporting event runs smoothly. Efforts are being put in not only the opening show but also innovating the way medals are made.

The latest plan drawn up by the Games’ organizing board includes recycling electronic waste and turning it into medals for winning athletes.

In a declaration, the board said that their scheme gained positive support from the general public, Japanese firms, as well as local and international competitors. So far, they have already had around 47,488 tons of e-waste ready to be used, including laptops, smartphones, batteries, and other handheld devices.

After 19 months of launching this project, the committee had collected enough bronze in June, 90% of the goal for gold and 85% for silver have been reached as we speak. Although they still have 10% of gold and 15% of silver to go, with the number of unprocessed devices, the board roughly calculates that they have already had what they need. This program will come to an end in the 31^st of March, and the designs for medals will be out this year.

This plan might sound promising enough, but Japan is still working toward larger plans for the Olympics and Paralympics. The next big thing they are carrying out is to produce enough renewable energy for the games, accommodation for the athletes, the broadcasting and the press center.

Making medals from recycled materials is not a brand new idea though. Similar concepts have been introduced in the previous Olympics. A prime example would be the 2016 Rio event in which they used such material to make 30% of silver and bronze medals. What sets Japanese plan apart is the fact that this is the first time ever the general public is directly taking part in the process as they are the ones who donate the used junked devices.