Advertisement

Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic medals to be made out of recycled smartphones

Could gold medalists at the next Olympics be biting into someone’s old iPhone? (Getty)
Could gold medalists at the next Olympics be biting into someone’s old iPhone? (Getty)

In preparation for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, host city Tokyo is going for the green.

Organizers are hoping to construct 5,000 gold, bronze and silver medals from recycled mobile phones and other electronic items. Collection boxes will be placed outside post offices and cell phone stores until the goal of eight tons of medal is met.

“A project that allows the people of Japan to take part in creating the medals is really good,” said Tokyo 2020 sports director Koji Murofushi. “There’s a limit on the resources of our earth, so recycling these things will make us think about the environment.”

Some recycled materials made up medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and at this past summer’s Games in Rio, 30 percent of the silver used in the medals came from recycled mirrors, solder and X-Ray plates., but Tokyo would be the first Games to feature medals made of 100 percent recyclable materials.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist and national hero gymnast Kohei Uchimura praised the ingenuity of the project.

“Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic medals will be made out of people’s thoughts and appreciation for avoiding waste,” he said in a release. “I think there is an important message in this for future generations.

Two-time gold medalist decathlete Ashton Eaton also expressed his excitement about the initiative.

““The weight of a medal around your neck is always a good weight,” he said in a release. “And when an athlete at Tokyo wins a medal, the weight of it will not be from the gold, silver, or bronze; it will be the weight of a nation. The awesomeness of this project makes me want to come out of retirement and compete for one.”