(ATR) Games organizers plan to use plastics donated by the public or collected from the oceans to make award ceremony podiums.
The announcement followed a Tokyo 2020 executive board meeting on Tuesday.
Tokyo Olympic chiefs are targeting the collection of up to 45 tons of plastic in the Games sustainability initiative. About 100 podiums will be produced from the waste.
Collection boxes for discarded plastic will be provided in more than 2,000 outlets of AEON, a major Japanese retail chain.
The plastic waste will be sent to the IOC's TOP partner Procter & Gamble. The global consumer goods giant was today appointed as a Tokyo 2020 partner, and will recycle and manufacture the podiums.
The podium model will be unveiled in June 2020. After the Games, the medal podiums will be used in schools as educational materials to explain and promote the Olympic and Paralympic movements.
The recycling project is part of Tokyo 2020’s sustainability concept for the Games under the banner "Be better, together – for the planet and the people". Organisers said the scheme would contribute to the achievement of key UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Tokyo officials previously announced that Olympic and Paralympic medals will be made from recycled metals from used consumer electronic appliances such as mobile phones donated by Japanese residents.
News of the sustainability scheme emerged after discussions at today’s meeting of Tokyo 2020’s rulers.
No other updates about developments across Games preparations were given by organisers.
Tokyo 2020 declined to comment when asked by Around the Rings for a progress report on the participation of North Korean athletes at the Games.
Last month, the IOC's coordination commission for Tokyo received reports on measures being taken to manage the Olympic host country's adverse weather conditions and transportation. Steady progress was reported on the preparation of competition venues. The first wave of Olympic test events start this month.
An IOC project review meeting will take place around the one-year-to-go celebrations in July, with president Thomas Bach participating.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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