Tokyo 2020 Olympic Medals Will Be Made From 100 Percent Recycled Gadgets, And We Salute Them!

Tokyo is hosting the next Olympics in 2020, and they have their work cut out for them. As the opening ceremonies for the games get steadily more elaborate, there comes a point where innovation has to be more than about pomp and show. And Japan looks to be succeeding there.

The organizing committee for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games has just announced that it's on track for its special project targets. These include making the winning medals for all the athletes out of discarded electronics.

According to their latest statement, there were "huge levels of support from the public and companies across Japan and from national and international athletes". As a result, municipal bodies collected about 47,488 tons of discarded gadgets, batteries, and hardware.

Of this, over five million tons was composed of just trashed phones handed in at collection stations. The committee managed to collect their target of 2,700 kg of bronze in June last year, and had gathered at least 93 percent of the 30.3 kg of gold and 85 percent of the 4,100 kg of silver they'd targeted by October.

Also Read: The 2020 Tokyo Olympics Aims To Be 1st Global Sports Event Powered By 100% Renewable Energy

They're still not done gathering gold and silver, but the committee estimates they have what they need based on the number of unused devices still left to process.They'll officially end the program on March 31 and will debut the medal designs later this year.

Meanwhile though, that's not the end for Tokyo's massive plans. They're also leasing and renting infrastructure to generate renewable energy, enough they hope to power both the main games and the Paralympics, athletes' village, international broadcasting center, and the main press center.