For the 2020 Olympics, which will take place in Tokyo, the organizers have chosen an extremely interesting method to promote smartphone recycling. More precisely, they decided to make the competitors' medals using material obtained from recycled smartphones, this being the first time such material will be used.
Not only smartphones will contribute material for the medals of the 2020 Olympics, but also other recycled electronic devices. The organizers estimate that based on what they have collected so far, they will collect no less than two tons of gold, silver and bronze to manufacture up to 5000 medals for the participants.
The Japanese government claims that smartphones and other electronic devices will be collected from the country's citizens, 8 tons of materials to be collected before recycling. The project aims to support the recycling of unused electronic devices, and the Japanese will organize special locations where these objects will be left by the Japanese.
Of course, everyone would appreciate the initiative of the Japanese to reuse recycled electronic devices to create these medals, and they will spend less money in the process. Until now, the materials used for the medals were bought from mining companies, but Japan thinks for the future and acts accordingly, setting an example for the whole world.
"A project that allows the people of Japan to take part in creating the medals is really good. An Olympic medal is one of the most coveted items in existence. People spend decades, often agonizing ones, working to obtain one. The life stories of so many are defined by the pursuit of these metal medallions, and those same stories are what inspire and bring millions of us together.”
