Paralympic Games
24 August - 5 September 2021

Tokyo 2020 to engage all of Japan in creating Games’ Medals

The Organising Committee aims to collect eight tons of metal from discarded or obsolete electronic devices 01 Feb 2017
Imagen
The Paralympic flag will join the Olympic flag on a tour of Tokyo

Representatives of Tokyo 2020 joined athletes to receive the Paralympic flag

ⒸTokyo 2020
By Tokyo 2020

“Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic medals will be made out of people’s thoughts and appreciation for avoiding waste. I think there is an important message in this for future generations.”

Tokyo 2020 on Wednesday (1 February) invited the Japanese population to give to the Organising Committee its discarded or obsolete electronic devices in order to use the metal in the production of the medals that will be awarded to athletes at the Games.

This project highlights Tokyo 2020’s commitments to engage the whole Japanese nation and to offer to everyone the opportunity to play a role in the Games’ preparations. It also responds directly to Recommendation 4 of Olympic Agenda 2020 that states sustainability be integrated into all aspects of the planning and execution of the Games.

The Organising Committee aims to collect as much as eight tons of metal (gold: 40 kg - silver: 4,920 kg - bronze: 2,944 kg), which after the production process will result in two tons, an amount needed to produce 5,000 Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic medals.

Two partner companies were appointed at a Tokyo 2020 executive board meeting, NTT DOCOMO and Japan Environmental Sanitation Center (JESC). From April, collection boxes will be installed in more than 2,400 NTT DOCOMO stores and an undecided number of public offices throughout the country. The collection will end when the 8-ton target is reached.

Further details on the collection strategy will be announced in due course.

Daisuke Ikezaki, Japan’s Rio 2016 Paralympic bronze medallist in wheelchair rugby player said: “Paralympic Athletes work hard every day to reach the Podium. We were able to win our medals with the help and support of numerous people.

“I believe our medals nurture hope and dreams in people and in the future of the Paralympic sport.

“I think Tokyo 2020 Medal Project is an amazing initiative, which engages all of Japan in making Olympic and Paralympic medals. It also inspires athletes to work even harder for winning one.”

Japan’s three-time Olympic gold medallist gymnast Kohei Uchimura, said: “Computers and smart phones have become useful tools. However, I think it is ‘mottainai’ [or wasteful] to discard devices every time there is a technological advance and new models appear.

“In the field of sport, gymnastics techniques too have evolved as a result of the efforts made by athletes in the past.

“Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic medals will be made out of people’s thoughts and appreciation for avoiding waste. I think there is an important message in this for future generations.”