Tokyo Games nears collection targets for recycled-metal medals

FILE – In this April 1, 2017, file photo, gold tablets of 3 grams, left, which is able to be recycled from 100 mobile phones, are shown as example in Tokyo. Tokyo Olympic organizers said in a statement Friday, Feb. 8, 2019, they expect to collect enough obsolete electronic devices by the end of March to reach the amount that will be required to manufacture all Olympic and Paralympic medals. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

TOKYO — The Tokyo metropolitan government and Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games have announced that they are on track to collect the recycled metal needed to produce all medals for the 2020 Games from the remnants of mobile phones and other small electronic devices.

The collection is expected to conclude by the end of March.

At least 5,000 medals, including gold, silver and bronze, are needed for the Games. The gold medal will be gold plated over a silver base, with 30.3 kilograms of gold, 4,100 kilograms of silver and 2,700 kilograms of copper required for production.

Collection of the metals from discarded small devices began in April 2017. As of the end of June 2018, the organizing bodies had completed their collection of copper but had only obtained 54.5 percent of the gold and 43.9 percent of the silver needed.

Additional recycling stations were subsequently introduced. As of the end of last October, the bodies had collected 93.7 per cent of the gold and 85.4 percent of the silver needed. The collection targets for both metals are expected to be reached by the end of March.