Tokyo’s Olympics planning committee has revealed it is close to achieving the goal of making 2020 Olympic medals from recycled electronic waste. Around 48,000 tons of collected waste, which includes over five million unwanted used phones, has produced over $3 million worth of gold, silver & bronze, the committee said. The medal design will be revealed in the summer.
The committee collected 4,100 kg of silver & 30 kg of gold valued at $3 million.
To make a statement about sustainability, Japan recently announced it would forge its 2020 Olympic medals from recycled smartphones, laptops & other gadgets. It just revealed that it has nearly met that goal after collecting nearly 48,000 tons of e-waste. The committee collected its 2,700 kg (5,950 pounds) target of bronze back in June, 93.7
Many of the gadgets were handed in at NTT Docomo stores, while others were collected at post offices & other public places. While the gold & silver targets are just shy of the original goal, the program runs until March 31st, & Tokyo says there will be enough to hit the target.
Over 900 medals were handed out at the 2016 Rio games weighing over 500 kg (1,100 pounds). The IOC requires gold medals to contain at least six grams of gold & 92.5