Japan wants to make medals from electronic waste for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

Organisers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics want to source the metal needed for the medals given out to sportsmen from electronic waste, according to a report in Nikkei Asian Review. The proposal was discussed back in June, and Olympic organisers, the government and private companies estimate that there will be enough metal extracted to hand out the medals in the Summer Olympics and the Paralympics.  While Japan has fewer natural resources as compared to other countries, as much as 17 percent of the world’s gold and 22 percent of the world’s silver are within small consumer electronic devices across the nation. This is more metal than any nation abundant in these natural resources.

The electronics needed for obtaining these metals will be donated by the citizens of the country. Normally, organisers in other countries ask for donations from mining corporations to make the medals. The collection of the electronics is one of the perceived challenges. A process is being put into place, where citizens can pack unused electronics in cardboard boxes, and have them picked up from their homes based on online schedules. These boxes of electronics will be dismantled and sorted, after which a metal extracting company would recycle the metals in the consumer electronics into medals for the athletes.

This reserve of gold in consumer electronics is called an “urban mine”. Silver is particularly problematic. The metals in Japanese Electronics already get recycled, and silver in particular is in high demand. Silver extracted from consumer electronics is used again in newer consumer electronics, and a very delicate balance in demand and supply is maintained. The requirement of over a thousand kilograms of silver, may disrupt this balance.