Tokyo Olympics 2020 medals made from recycled electronic devices like mobile phones

As many as 86 countries had won at least one medal in the recently-concluded 2020 Tokyo Olympics with US taking home the maximum (113), which included 39 gold medals. China were placed second with 38 gold medals followed by hosts Japan, who won 27 gold medals. This was also the best-ever Olympics for India , with seven medals, surpassing 2012 London Games’ count of six. Those medals handed out across sporting events were made of recycled metals from small electronic devices such as used mobile phones and were donated by people across Japan. The Tokyo 2020 Medal Project was an effort to make the Games more environmentally-friendly. “In the two years between April 2017 and March 2019, 100 percent of the metals required to manufacture the approximately 5,000 gold, silver and bronze medals were extracted from small electronic devices contributed by people from all over Japan,” a statement on the Tokyo 2020 official website reads. “Every single medal to be awarded to athletes during the Tokyo 2020 Games is made from recycled metals. We are grateful for everyone’s cooperation on this project. We hope that our project of recycling small consumer electronics and our efforts to contribute to an environmentally-friendly and sustainable society will form part of the legacy of the Tokyo 2020 Games.”

The #Tokyo2020 Medal Project aims towards an innovative future for the world 🌏

♻️ From April 2017 to March 2019, small electronic devices including mobile phones were collected to produce the Olympic and Paralympic medals 🏅
#WednesdayWisdom pic.twitter.com/WKVeRb0OcS

— #Tokyo2020 (@Tokyo2020) June 30, 2021

Approximately 78,985 tons of used small electronic devices were collected by municipal authorities across Japan. A total of 1,621 municipalities were involved in the ‘Tokyo 2020 Nationwide Participation Programme’. Athletes, students from partner universities and members of the public contributed to the project by collecting used small devices. The medals were then produced after gold, silver and bronze elements have been extracted by smelting contractors. The Tokyo 2020 Games were the first to make all the medals out of recycled materials. The concept, however, is not new. At the Rio 2016 Games, 30 percent of the sterling silver used for gold and bronze medals was taken from recycled metals.