Organizers for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo have found an innovate approach tackling the rising global issue of e-waste.
Recently, Japan announced that it will use recycled electronics to make the 5,000 medals needed for the games.
Typically, metal used to manufacture the medals comes from mines. To ensure Japan has the needed amount of devices to make recycled medals, the country is setting up 2,400 collection boxes for old electronics.
It’s not the first time a host country has used recycled parts for its medals. For the Rio games, the medals were made from about 30 percent recycled materials.
“A project that allows the people of Japan to take part in creating the medals is really good," Koji Murofushi, said Tokyo 2020 sports director, said. "There's a limit on the resources of our earth, so recycling these things will make us think about the environment."
Companies use a chemical process to separate out the various metals used in electronics, such as platinum, palladium, gold, silver, cobalt, gold and silver.
Because new models for popular electronics like phones and tablets are frequently being introduced to the market, the turnover rate for consumers is increasing and the problem of e-waste is accelerating. And in America alone, just 29 percent of e-waste is recycled.
