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XtraTime Web Desk: All medals to be given out during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be made out of electronic waste, including discarded smartphones, laptops, and digital cameras. [signinlocker id="76849"] Collection of old devices began in April 2017, with the project set to reach its targets for the needed amount of gold, silver and bronze by the end of March this year, according to a press release. “We will target a 100 percent recycling rate in the refining of gold, respecting the environment by using scrap metals in the manufacture of medals, and employing Japanese technological expertise,” said the Organizing Committee of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The committee has collected 47,488 tons of discarded devices across Japan, including more than five million used mobile phones. “The targeted amount of bronze – some 2,700kg – was already extracted from these by June of last year. By October 2018, 28.4kg of gold (93.7% of the targeted 30.3kg) and 3,500kg of silver (85.4% of the targeted 4,100kg) had been sourced from the donated devices,” the press release stated. The design for the medals is being kept under wraps until this summer, but the committee is planning to make about 5,000 medals out of the recycled materials. This project falls directly in line with the Tokyo 2020 slogan “Be better, together — for the planet and the people.” This is not the first time electronic waste has been used to create the Olympic medals, but it is the first time citizens got a chance to be directly involved. The collection has been done through authorized dealers, and contractors were used to dismantle and extract metals from the donated electronic waste. [/signinlocker]