And the green medal goes to...

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics!

The Tokyo 2020 Games sustainability concept:
“Be better, together. For the planet and the people.”

We’ve highlighted a few things you might not have known:

Zero emission transport & electricity

• Renewable sources used (solar, biomass, hydro).- Renewable sources used (solar, biomass, hydro).
• Fuel-cell buses, autonomous battery shuttles and hydrogen-powered forklift trucks were used.
• Only LED lights were used at event venues.

Podiums

• Podiums were made from recycled plastic donated by the public and recovered from the oceans.
• After the Games podiums will be used for educational purposes or recycled to make bottles.

Olympic Medals & Torch

• Olympic medals were made using recycled metal from old mobile phones and other small appliances donated by the public.
• Olympic torch was made using aluminum waste from temporary housing built in aftermath of 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Olympic Village

• The Athlete’s Village was partially powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
• Recyclable cardboard beds for athletes.
• The Athlete’s Village will be turned into an apartment complex after the Games.

Olympic Structures, Products & Services

• 25 of the 43 venues used for the Olympics existed before the Games and 10 are temporary structures.
• All suppliers of products and services were selected according to a strict sourcing code with sustainability standards.

Carbon footprint

Tokyo’s Olympic Committee wanted to beat the London Games with no more than 2.93 million tonnes CO2 and estimated it would generate 2.73 million tonnes. Without spectators that amount was cut by 12%.

Resources:

• https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/plastic-podiums-recycled-medals-cardboard-beds-sustainability-tokyo-2020-2021-08-03/
• https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/01/tokyo-2020-olympic-games-sustainable/
• https://www.greenmatters.com/p/olympics-sustainability-tokyo
• https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/games/sustainability/
• https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/games/sustainability/sus-plan

• https://gtimg.tokyo2020.org/image/upload/production/cas22cdv09dc0h9yaf5t.pdf