Japan recycled 6.21 million used phones to make 5,000 Tokyo Olympic medals
Japan successfully recycled over 6 million used mobile phones and thousands of tonnes of electronics to extract precious metals for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic medals. The national project involved widespread public participation and established recycling infrastructure.
Why it matters
The project serves as a global model for urban mining and circular economy practices, demonstrating how consumer waste can be repurposed for high-value industrial use.
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.
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