Vincent Hancock and his second gold Olympic medal in 2012. #V. hancock olympic games tokyo 2020 tvEach personal computer, mobile phone, and TV must be recycled, as well as appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators, and washing machines. In 2009, Japan created new legislation that made it mandatory to recycle home electronics. This is not the first time Japan has made efforts to recycle e-waste. This table from QZ.com shows that the amount of metals needed to make the medals for the Olympic games could easily be met using recycled e-waste from Japan. Table showing the needed amount of metals for the 2012 Olympics compared to the recovered materials in Japan from e-waste. This is a compelling incentive for sustainable metal sourcing. It is believed that e-waste in Japan alone makes up to 16% of the current gold reserve. Tokyo is due to host the 2020 Olympic Games and organizers have made plans to produce the gold and silver medals from e-waste. For a visual guide to the e-waste problem, check out the MoniTour project from MIT's Senseable City Lab and BAN.Į-waste is becoming an increasing concern for the environment. Unfortunately, even well-intentioned e-waste recycling is often misleading-it turns out that literal tons of "recycled" electronics end up in landfills anyway. Furthermore, practices such as planned obsolescence do not help with reduction of waste if a phone or computer becomes outdated in just a few years. This dumping of e-waste has cost $52 billion to the global economy. It is also believed that up to 90% of the world’s electronics waste (worth $19 billion), is dumped and traded illegally. The electronics industry produces up to 42 million tons of waste annually, which is becoming a problem with precious metals such as gold and palladium becoming increasingly rare and expensive. When the Olympic Games are hosted in Tokyo in 2020, the gold medals may just be sourced from electronics. Some are seeking to source rare earth metals from hard drives while others are recycling metals from broken products they gather from consumers.īut Japan may be taking e-waste recycling to the global stage. Companies around the world are beginning to pay more attention to the value of materials thrown away as e-waste. Recouping resources from electronics isn't a new concept. There's a chance that the gold medals awarded there will be made from recycled electronic waste. Tokyo is due to host the 2020 Olympic Games.
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