The organizing committee for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo has decided to make medals for athletes during the course from recycled materials from electronics waste.
According to the Daily Mail, the Olympic medals, which kick off next summer, will be made of electronic waste that Japan began collecting from all parts of the country in 2017.
The e-waste collection project was launched 18 months ago and includes unused electronic devices such as personal computers, cameras and more than 5 million smartphones.
The newspaper said the population donated these old devices, until the weight reached about 50 thousand tons.
After complex operations, technicians have been able to extract 16.5 kilograms of gold so far, 54 percent of the required amount, to paint gold medals, compared to 1800 kilograms of silver, which is 44 percent of the required quantity.
The committee is working on the e-waste campaign to raise awareness of the importance of sustainability projects and reduce environmental pollution, and to encourage Japanese to participate in the Olympics.