The Tokyo 2020 Olympic podiums will be made from recycled plastic

Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said the plan would help to convey a message of sustainability, which the organizers want to be a key theme of the Games next year.

Japan:

The podiums of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be made from plastic waste donated by residents or recovered from the sea, the organizers announced on Tuesday as part of a campaign to promote sustainability.

This will be the first time that podiums are made from recycled materials and organizers say they will need about 45 tons of plastic to make about 100 podiums for the Games.

Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said the plan would help to convey a message of sustainability, which the organizers want to be a key theme of the Games next year.

"By sending this message to Japan and the rest of the world, we believe this project will be of great importance," he told the press.

The plastic for the project will be collected at more than 2,000 retail outlets in a local supermarket chain, where boxes will be installed so that Tokyo residents can deposit their recyclable plastic waste.

The project will also use plastic waste collected from the ocean during marine clean-up operations.

The organisers of 2020 were keen to promote an ecological message with the Games, in particular by producing all the medals from recycled electronic waste.

They solicited waste from the public as well as local Japanese industry and businesses, collecting 2,700 kg of bronze, 30.3 kg of gold and 4,100 kg of silver.