Medals for Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics to be made from discarded smartphones and laptops

What can you make with 30.3 kg (66.8 lb) of gold, 4,100 kg (9,038 lb) of silver, and 2,700 kg (5,952 lb) of bronze? Enough medals to award all the winning competitors at the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, apparently. Tokyo has followed Rio’s initiative to create medals out of recycled materials, so the medals awarded to the world’s best athletes next year could contain a little bit of a Sony Xperia Z1 and a smidgeon of a Toshiba Tecra R940.

The organizers behind collecting all this recycled metal from broken-down laptops and unwanted smartphones have nearly reached their targets according to the latest information offered. The bronze target was met in 2018, while over 90% of the gold and 85% of the silver required has been collected. It is believed all the targets will be achieved to create the medals for the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics.

It has been estimated that a ton of smartphones, without their batteries, would offer up 300 g (10.6 oz) of gold. The Tokyo 2020 organizers have had to sift through 47,488 tons of electronics and have been sent more than five million unused smartphones to assist with their endeavors. So it looks like athletes on the podium at Tokyo 2020 will be given novel recycled medals consisting of metal that once belonged to a battered Panasonic Toughbook or a preloved Sony Vaio.

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