The flag, bearing the symbol of the five interlocking rings, arrived at Tokyo’s Haneda airport on charter flights with the delegation, which bagged a record 41 medals at the August 5-21 games in Rio de Janeiro.
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Tokyo last hosted the summer Olympics in 1964, underscoring Japans post-war coming out party as it grew into a global economic powerhouse.
The Olympic flag arrived here Wednesday as Japan’s capital gears up to host the 2020 Games, with officials promising smooth sailing after Rio’s sometimes shaky 2016 installment. However, Japan may not have to do that because the gold and silver recovered from small electronics in the country is about the equivalent of 16 percent of the world’s total reserves. And most of the metals from recycled electronics go toward making new electronics, Engadget reports.
According to the Nikkei business review, this “urban mine” could be excavated for precious metals in preparation for the next round of games and the required medals.
The London Olympic Games in 2012 used 9.6 kg of gold, 1,210 kg of silver and 700 kg of copper to make their medals.
To harness e-waste stores, however, Japan does need to implement a better collection system. In 2014 alone, the massive heap of old cell phones and other electronics was estimated to contain 315 pounds of gold, 3,450 pounds of silver and 2,450 pounds of copper. By comparison, Japan discards 650,000 tons of small electronics and home appliances every year.
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Japan’s 2020 Olympic medals proposal could achieve something much more meaningful, however, as the use of discarded electronics as a source material would be a great example of the viability of mining the vast amounts of e-waste produced each year, in contrast to the environmental impacts of virgin mineral extraction that is the status quo. A collection system should be created by the private sector, and central and local governments should be in charge of publicizing such private services.
