Olympic Sustainability

As the temperatures start dropping, the thought of Summer Olympics sounds like a long time from now.  July 24--August 9, 2020 the pomp and circumstances of Summer Olympics 2020 will be here. Well, not "here," but in Tokyo.

When the Olympics and Paralympics games come, along with it will come a major statement of sustainability. The medals for 2020 will be made 100% recyclable material. More than 90% of Japan's local authorities have been involved in collecting recycled and discarded devices. The numbers are staggering what they collected:

• 78,985 tons of recycled devices were collected.
• Roughly 6.21 million mobile phones 
• Additional devices include: digital cameras, laptops, and handheld games
• During their 2-year collection, they reached their final goals by March 2019 close:
• 32 kg of gold
• 3,500 kg of silver
• 2,200 kg of bronze
• About 5,000 medals are expected to be distributed between the Olympics and Paralympics games.

In the past, the Rio 2016 Olympic games had about 30% of the silver/bronze medals came from recycled materials. But clearly a goal of 100% just a mere 4 years later is a greater goal in a lot of ways. Additionally this push and collection drive strengthens the theme of sustainability, resourcefulness, and innovation of the 2020 games.

Project organizers hope the nationwide electronics drive will help establish a theme of resourcefulness for the Tokyo games.

It's upcycling at its finest!

There are lots of places to learn more:

• From Olympic.org: Designs of Tokyo 2020’S Recycled Medals Unveiled
• From Popular Mechanics: The 2020 Olympic Medals Will Be Made from Recycled Gadgets
• From Tokyo 2020: Tokyo 2020 Medal Project: Towards an Innovative Future for All

Image from https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/sports/olympics/2019/07/24/2020-summer-olympics-medals-how-they-look/1812376001/; video from https://youtu.be/uOo_gFjECIQ