Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike waves the Olympic flag as she is welcomed by well-wishers upon her arrival at Haneda airport on Wednesdy.
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How insane exciting would that be? This is 3 more medals than the 38 they scooped at the London games in 2012 where they finished eleventh on the medal table.
It is estimated that 16 percent of the world’s gold and 22 percent on the world’s silver is now sitting inside gadgets in Japan. According to Nikkei, less than 100,000 tons (out of a total of 650,000 tons) of discarded e-waste is collected each year, and a government target of collecting 1 kg of small consumer electronics annually per person often falls very short. The average weight of an Olympic gold medal is 176.4 grams, or 6.2 ounces.
It shouldn’t be a problem then, right?
Getting enough recycled gold together to make Olympic medals seems easy enough, but the program could also be used as leverage to improve Japan’s e-waste collection and processing.
Economists estimate that the advanced countries that have hosted the Olympics have realized about a 0.3 percent increase in annual economic growth during the years needed to prepare for the Games. This stockpile has been created in part due to redundant electronics and has made it possible for Japan to hold more precious metals than many countries where these resources can be mined naturally. On the other hand, you’d be hard-pressed to find paper, plastic or glass making their way into Japanese landfills.
The 28 different sports that featured at Rio 2016 will all return in 2020, along with five new additions. It goes without saying that the medals awarded during the 2020 Games will likely be bigger in both size and quantity.
Takeshi Kuroda, president of a home appliance company, called for a system that’s convenient for citizens turning in used electronics. “If this public-private cooperation progresses, the collection of electronic waste should also progress”.
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Abe pledged in Rio that he will work hard to host the best Games yet, but Tokyos Olympic preparations have suffered high-profile setbacks, including soaring costs and having to redesign the Games logo after accusations of plagiarism.
