Top prize at Tokyo 2020? A medal made of old phones

Gold, silver and bronze recovered

MEDALS for the 2020 Olympics will be made from recycled electronic devices, the Tokyo Organising Committee has announced.

It comes after millions of smartphones and tons of old electrical products were donated.

Nearly 50,000 tons of devices, including cameras, games consoles and laptops, plus more than five million smartphones, were collected for the Old Metals New Medals project across Japan over 18 months since it opened.

‘The project has offered the public an opportunity to play an important role in the Games’ preparations, at the same time drawing attention to the importance of sustainability under the Tokyo 2020 slogan Be Better, Together – for the Planet and the People,’ said the committee in a statement.

The Japanese public donated their old devices at shops and municipal authorities across the country before they were dismantled, smelted, refined and turned into the raw metals.

Some 2.7 tonnes of bronze had already been extracted by June 2018 and by October there had been 28.4kg of gold and 3.5 tonnes of silver extracted from the donations.

‘Being able to recycle these phones that maybe get lost in cupboards or don’t get touched for years is a great way to re-utilise them and make them into something that’s going to be as important,’ Olympic swimmer Ben Proud has said. Medal designs will be unveiled this summer.