japan may use e-waste for 2020 medals - home appliances manufacturers in china

Japan is exploring the feasibility of forging 2020 Olympic medals with precious metals recovered from electronic waste.
According to local media reports, members of the Japan Olympic organizing committee submitted the idea to government officials and companies earlier this year.
The Olympic host city has traditionally acquired the metal from mining companies.
However, Japan lacks its own mineral resources, so it is eager to take the theme of a sustainable future to the next level.
International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Strict standards have been set for the greatest sporting event in the world, which also extends to the way medals are made.
For example, Gold used at the Rio Olympics was extracted without mercury, and the third type of silver and copper used came from recycled sources.
Discarded consumer electronics such as smartphones and tablets contain a small amount of precious metals and rare earth metals, including platinum, palladium, gold, silver, lithium, cobalt and nickel.
Scrap cars and household appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners also contain these rare metals, as well as base metals such as iron, copper, lead and zinc.
Recycling or refining companies collect or purchase large quantities of this electronic product
Waste and industrial waste.
They then separated all kinds of metals by chemical methods.
Most of this work takes place in developing countries such as China, India and Indonesia.
Is Japan 2020 enough?
According to the OECD, Japan is one of the countries with the highest recovery rates in Asia.
But this is mainly for plastic, paper and glass.
According to Nikkei News, about 650,000 tons of small electronics and household appliances are discarded every year in Japan.
However, it is estimated that less than 100,000 tons are recovered.
Therefore, at 2020 Olympic Games, Japan may have to ask countries or companies to contribute to the efforts to recycle metals.
The amount of metal required will depend on the size and number of medals, as medals seem to get heavier and heavier each year.
The Tokyo 2020 Games also added five new sports, including baseball, karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing.
The number of medals in 2016 Rio Olympic Games is the largest in all Olympic Games, each weighing 500 grams, with 1 cm thick in the middle.
The Brazilian Mint won a total of 5,130 medals, up from 4,700 medals made by the Royal Mint in London for 2012 Olympic Games.
How much is it?
The use of recycled metal may end up being cheaper than buying in the spot market. A little-
The well-known fact is that gold medals are mainly made of sterling silver and bronze metal is mainly made of copper.
Isn't that tricky?
The International Olympic Committee's minimum requirement for gold medals is 6 grams of pure yellow metal.
If these medals are made of pure gold, the total cost will be tens of millions of dollars.
Gold is currently 70 times more expensive than silver.
However, some market experts believe that the situation may change by 2020.
Global silver reserves continue to shrink as demand exceeds supply, and we mine only 11 ounces of silver per ounce of gold, said Singapore Silver founder Greg Grayson.