Tokyo Olympic medals to be made from eletronic waste

Organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are hoping to source the gold, silver and bronze needed to make medals for the games by tapping the country’s “urban mine” — made up of millions of discarded smartphones and other small consumer electronics.

electronic waste

Such electronic waste contains enough precious metals to produce all the medals for the Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in Japan’s capital four years from now, according to a group of Olympic organizers, government officials and company executives that discussed the proposal in June.

For the 2012 London Olympics, 9.6 kg of gold, 1,210 kg of silver and 700 kg of copper — the primary component of bronze — were used to produce medals. In comparison, the amount of precious metals recovered from discarded small consumer electronics in Japan in 2014 included 143 kg of gold, 1,566 kg of silver and 1,112 tons of copper.
e-waste medals

While Japan is poor in natural resources, its “mine” of gold and silver contained in small consumer electronics is equivalent to 16% and 22% of the world’s total reserves, respectively — surpassing the reserves of any natural resources-abundant nation.

Olympic host cities usually procure metal for medals largely by asking mining companies to donate them.

olympic medals rio

The idea of using recycled electronics was discussed at a June 10 meeting in Tokyo to consider “cooperation proposals for the Tokyo 2020 operation plan” with an eye toward a “sustainable future.” Participants included officials of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic organizing committee, the Ministry of the Environment and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, as well as executives from mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo, precious metals company Tanaka Kikinzoku Kogyo, and recycling companies.

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