The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are now history, but the games held this year marked a first in Olympic history in an unusual way. According to articles posted on EcoWatch.com and other websites, the medals given to Olympic champions this year incorporated materials made from recycled electronic parts and components.
The effort to produce the medals from electronic waste was spearheaded by the Tokyo Medal Project and involved a nation-wide endeavor to collect enough recycled electronic waste to produce the gold, silver, and bronze medals to be awarded at the games. Over two years, hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens throughout almost 90% of the country donated used or unwanted electronics at local pick-up sites.
All told, the public collection sites collected nearly 80 tons of electronics. Once processed, the recycled electronics yielded 70 pounds of gold, 7700 pounds of silver, and 4850 pounds of bronze. The materials were then used to produce approximately 5000 medals for the games.
