The medals for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be "forged from recycled metal from old mobile phones and appliances donated by the general public to give them a sense of direct involvement in the Games, organizers said," according to Elaine Lies of REUTERS. The move is also part of an effort "to promote sustainability and save costs" after the budget for the event "ballooned" to more than 3T yen ($26.4B) at one point, though organizers reduced that sum to $16.8B late last year. The Tokyo 2020 organizing committee hopes to gather as much as eight tons of metal -- 40kg of gold, 2,920kg of silver and 2,994kg of bronze -- from "outdated mobile phones and small household appliances donated by people across Japan" (REUTERS, 2/1). KYODO reported recycling of electronic devices "will begin nationwide in April." Organizers appointed mobile phone operator NTT Docomo and the Japan Environmental Sanitation Center to "perform the actual recycling in conjunction with the Tokyo metropolitan government and the Environment Ministry." NTT Docomo will be responsible for "collecting mobile phones through its outlet stores, the JESC small household appliances." Several million units of mobile phones will be required to meet the "8-ton target," the organizing committee said (KYODO, 2/1).
