Queensland chips in to help Tokyo 2020 go for Gold

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has joined a unique recycling drive in Japan which is making medals for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics using old consumer electronics.

The Premier donated an old Queensland Government mobile phone to the Tokyo 2020 Medal Project while visiting the construction site of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Aquatics Centre.

“The Tokyo and Queensland Governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2016 in the area of education, but both governments also share eco-friendly policy encouraging renewable energy, and waste management and recycling,” the Premier said.

“Queensland is always keen to support new and innovative ways to recycle and process waste and the Tokyo 2020 Medal Project certainly fits that bill.

“Japan is aiming to have 100 per cent recycled content making up the medals for the next Olympics, which make environmental sense but also gives people a sense of participation and involvement in the Olympics and medal making process.

“It was a pleasure to tour the aquatic centre site today and donate an old Queensland Government phone to this clever and environmentally-conscious initiative.

“It’s exciting to think that one day this old device may have a new life as gold medal hanging proudly around the neck of a champion Queensland athlete.” 

The Premier also met Japanese Minister for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games Shinichi Suzuki this afternoon, to strengthen ties that developed during the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

“A delegation from the Tokyo2020 team was on hand in April to observe our security preparations and today Minister Suzuki confirmed they were especially impressed with our cyber security measures,” the Premier said.

“We’ll continue to talk to Tokyo2020 about through their preparations about issues including how to train and manage volunteers for the Games.

The Tokyo 2020 Medal Project aims to make around 5,000 gold, silver and bronze medals for the Games from metals contained within small consumer electronic devices.

Tokyo 2020 will mark the first time a host nation has involved its citizens in the collection of consumer electronics for the purpose of manufacturing Olympic and Paralympic medals.

Since the initiative was launched in April 2017, more than 14 million tonnes of used electronic devices have been collected by municipalities across Japan, with 3.3 million old mobile phones donated so far.

Media Contact:  Geoff Breusch 0417 272 875