The organizing committee for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics said Friday it expects to achieve its target for collecting the recycled metal needed to make the prizes for the games by March.
Next year's medals will be made in part from metal recycled from cellphones and small electronic devices. As of the end of October, the project had collected 93.7 percent of the gold and 85.4 percent of the silver required.
After the program's launch in April 2017, the 2,700 kg needed to make the bronze medals was achieved by the end of June 2018. At that juncture, however, the project had collected just around half of the 30.3 kg of gold and 4,100 kg of silver needed. In response, the number of collection boxes for devices was increased.
"When we began, I felt anxiety about whether we would achieve 100 percent of our target," said Masaaki Komiya, a vice director-general with the organizing committee. "I'm filled with gratitude."
The organizers said they will announce the medal designs for the 2020 Games this summer.