From 2017-19, Japan recycled 6.21M phones into 5,000 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic medals

From April 2017 to March 2019, Japan collected electronics through two national channels. Under the 2020 Medal Project, NTT Docomo shops took in about 6.21 million used phones, while municipalities collected approximately 78,985 tonnes of small electronic devices. Through them all, recyclers were able to extract 32 kilograms of gold, 3,500 kilograms of silver and 2,200 kilograms of bronze. These were then used to make the 5,000 Olympic and Paralympic medals.Two collection streamsThe project ran from April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2019. An official Tokyo 2020 sustainability report separates the two figures: municipal collection produced the 78,985-tonne total, while about 2,300 NTT Docomo shops collected 6.21 million phones. One counts handsets collected through phone shops. The other measures the mass of a much broader municipal stream that included mobile phones and other consumer electronics such as cameras, laptops and handheld game systems.Participation became national in scale. The report records 1,621 local governments, more than 90 per cent of Japan’s municipalities, alongside support from 38 companies, central-government buildings and collection points run by the Tokyo Metropol...