Tokyo 2020: winning gold for sustainability

Olympic Games to tackle the reduction of electronic and plastic waste

Did you know that the Olympic medals for Tokyo 2020 are made from recycled electronic goods like your smartphone?

The event organisers collected about 80,000 tonnes of metal from small household appliances, such as used mobile phones, to create the 5,000 gold, silver and bronze medals.

To make the medal podiums for the Games, TerraCycle Japan and Procter & Gamble also collected hard-to-recycle plastic from thousands of Aeon stores across the country.

If they go ahead, the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, which are scheduled to take place in July 2021, will help to tackle the reduction of electronic and plastic waste. The focus of the Tokyo Olympic Games is reducing waste and CO2 emissions.

Furthermore, the organisers are aiming to ensure that 99% of the items and goods procured for the Olympics, and 65% of the waste generated from its operations, will be reused or recycled by fine waste separation. Cardboard beds and the mattresses for athletes will be fully recyclable after use.

This is all part of efforts by Tokyo 2020 to be the greenest and lowest-emission Olympic Games ever.

While Japan is winning gold for sustainability at the Tokyo Olympics, we can help Japanese companies achieve greater sustainability in Europe.

Please see article here for more information about how we are helping Japanese and other companies globally to meet their recycling and takeback obligations for batteries, electronic goods and packaging.