Postponed a year late due to COVID-19, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games have become one of the most anticipated events to ever happen this year. Millions of spectators around the world have tuned in to watch their favourite athletes compete in various sports. However, the sports competitions are not the only spectacle to behold. This year, the organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have set out to turn the world's number one sporting event into an ambitious exhibition for sustainability. Guided by the theme “Be better together—For the planet and the people,” the Tokyo Olympics instilled the most sustainable materials in just about every aspect of the Games you can imagine.
Recycled Medals
Each year, billions worth of precious metals used in electronic devices (gold, silver, etc.) get discarded globally due to people simply dumping or burning their gadgets instead of ensuring that they are properly collected and recycled. To emphasize on this issue, the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games conducted the Tokyo 2020 Medal Project, a movement aiming to collect small, used electronic devices (such as mobile phones and laptops) from all over Japan to produce the Olympic and Paralympic medals. In the two years between April 2017 and March 2019, an estimated 78,985 tons of used small electronic devices were gathered by municipal authorities across Japan, which included 6.21 million used mobile phones! Up to 90% of 1,741 Japanese cities, towns, and villages participated in the campaign by setting up donation pick-up sites where hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens could donate their old electronic devices. The collected devices were then classified and dismantled, and the gold, silver and bronze components were extracted by smelting, ready to be shaped into medals. Overall, the campaign yielded a total of 32 kg of gold, 3,500 kg of silver and 2,200 kg of bronze needed to manufacture approximately 5,000 medals.
Cardboard beds
One of the key features of the Athlete's Village is the beds on which the athletes rest. Manufactured by Japanese company Airweave, these 18,000 single beds were made entirely out of cardboard and are capable of withstanding up to 200 kilograms of weight! They are planned to be recycled into paper products after use.
Recycled podiums
Podiums for the medal ceremonies were made out of recycled plastic donated by the public and recovered from the ocean, which were then shaped using 3D-printing technology. After the Games, these podiums will be used for educational purposes to promote the Olympic Movement’s contribution to sustainability and recycled back into bottle packaging by sponsor Procter & Gamble.
Renewable energy sources
Besides recycling, the Tokyo Olympics have also utilized 100% renewable energy sources. These include electricity generated from solar farms in Tamakawa, Naraha and Okuma in the Fukushima Prefecture. Wood biomass and hydropower were also used, with the biomass being generated from construction waste and tree clippings from Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture. Measures to increase energy efficiency were also installed, including equipping all event venues using only LED lights.
When it comes to developing new technologies, Japan is without a doubt one of the most innovative countries in the world. In fact, Tokyo already holds a reputation for having one of the world's most reliable transport systems, and the initiative of the 2020 Olympic Games has taken this one step further. Low-emission and fuel-efficient public transport, including fuel-cell buses and autonomous battery shuttles, were used to ferry Olympic and Paralympic athletes and staff. Hydrogen-powered forklift trucks were also used to transport heavy items around the Olympic sites.
Toyota, Japan’s largest automaking company and a key sponsor of the Olympics, donated 100 hydrogen fuel cell buses (FCB) as well as self-driving battery-powered vehicles to the Tokyo metropolitan area, to shuttle athletes and visitors around the Games’ venues. The Sora bus, which Toyota began selling in 2018, is powered by two 111 kW fuel cell stacks and fuelled by ten hydrogen tanks which total up to 600 liters. Each bus also has a 235-kWh external power supply for use as an emergency power source in case of disasters, illustrating the flexibility of fuel cell technology. Other than that, Toyota also modified a number of its existing e-Palette vehicles to provide accessible and fuss-free transport for athletes, while also ensuring zero carbon emissions. With a holding capacity of 20 passengers and 4 wheelchairs, the e-Palette bus is capable of autonomous driving as well as detecting passing vehicles and pedestrians, making it able to automatically brake if necessary.
The Flame of Recovery
Even the symbolic Olympic torch was made out of recycled materials. Approximately 30% of the torch was forged using aluminum waste from the temporary housing that was built in the aftermath of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The Olympic flame itself was fuelled using hydrogen produced in a local solar array in Fukushima prefecture, so it does not produce carbon dioxide.
The torch for the 2020 Olympic Games serves as a nod to Japan's past and its hopes for the future. The shape of the rose-plated torch resembles that of a sakura flower or cherry blossom, Japan's national flower and a symbol of hope and renewal. In an interview with The Telegraph, the Olympic torch's designer Tokujin Yoshioka said that his design was inspired by drawings of cherry blossoms created by children from areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami. Here’s another fun fact: survivors of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami were also among Japan's 10,000 Olympic torchbearers!
Recycled uniforms
This year, the uniforms of the Olympic torchbearers were made from recycled plastic bottles collected by Olympic partner Coca-Cola. Staff and volunteers of the Games also donned recycled plastic uniforms, made using recycled polyester and plant-based materials. The shoes also underwent a gentle dyeing process which requires a minimum amount of water. Some sportswear companies have also upped their sustainability game in manufacturing uniforms for the athletes. For example, Nike designed the uniforms of several countries’ teams out of recycled polyester from plastic bottles, recycled nylon, and rubber and yarn waste generated from its factories. Meanwhile Asics, the only gold partner of the Tokyo 2020 Games in the sporting goods category managed to gather 30,000 units of used sportswear from all across Japan and extracted the polyester fibers to make the Japanese national team’s uniforms!
The green Olympic complex
Situated between the Tokyo Bay area and the city’s heritage sites, the International Olympic Village is Tokyo’s first ever full-scale hydrogen infrastructure. This functioning “hydrogen city” comprises 21 residential towers standing at 14 to 18 stories tall, with 3,600 rooms capable of housing 18,000 athletes. The complex was built out of 40,000 pieces of timber, sustainably sourced and donated by local authorities across Japan, as well as corrugated metal for the roofs. Hydrogen fuel cells power every inch and corner of the village, from the dormitories to cafeterias to training facilities. After the Games, these buildings will still serve as hydrogen-powered flats and some of the facilities will be converted into schools and shopping centers!
Recycling architecture
The Yoyogi National Gymnasium, built for the Tokyo 1964 Olympics was one of the existing venues reused for the 2020 Games.
Keeping up with its sustainability pledge, the Tokyo 2020 Games reused 25 existing venues built when the city last hosted the Games back in 1964. Eight new venues, including the main stadium were built from scratch, while another 10 buildings acted as temporary structures designed to minimize cost and energy use.
Sustainable or greenwashing?
Despite the various efforts by the IOC to reduce the Games’ carbon emissions, debates have been speculated regarding the efficacy of these measures. Some studies, including one conducted by the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, even accuse the Games of “greenwashing” with its “superficial” sustainability efforts.
"The majority of the measures that have been included in this particular Olympics, and the ones that were particularly mediatised, have a more or less superficial effect," said David Gogishvili, co-author of the aforementioned study. He continued, "The efforts the International Olympic Committee is making are important, but they are limited and not enough. From my perspective, unless they heavily limit the construction aspect and the overall size of the event, they will always be criticised for greenwashing." The report claims that, despite Tokyo’s efforts, it is still the third least sustainable Games since 1992.
Overall, the event was estimated to have emitted 2.3 million metric tons of CO₂—equal to the annual emissions from about half a million cars. Compared to past editions of the Olympics, the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro emitted approximately 4.5 million tons of carbon dioxide, while the 2012 Games in London generated 3.3 million tons. In general, sustainability measures declined over the sixteen Summer and Winter Games held between 1992 and 2020. Salt Lake City 2002 ranked the best, while the bottom spots went to Rio 2016 and the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
“With their immense reach and visibility, the Olympic Games are a great opportunity to demonstrate technologies which can help tackle today’s challenges, such as climate change,” said Marie Sallois, the director for corporate and sustainable development at the International Olympic Committee. With the next Summer Olympic Games set to happen in Paris in 2024, where social change and enhancing the environment are among the main themes, it is hoped that Tokyo 2020 will set a precedent for future Olympics and other sports events.
Sources
Amarnani, K. (2019). Recycled Products are the First Winners of Olympic 2020. https://www.breakingasia.com/green/recycled-products-are-the-first-winners-of-olympic-2020/
Corbley, A. (2021). Hydrogen is Powering the Olympic Village – Heat, Electric, and Lights That Are a Model of Japanese Innovation. https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/tokyo-olympics-cauldron-and-village-are-hydrogen-powered/
Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association. (2020). Japan’s Hydrogen Olympics. https://www.fchea.org/in-transition/2020/5/25/japans-hydrogen-olympics
Joosse, T. (2021). The ‘Hydrogen Olympics’ Lit a Torch for the Clean Fuel’s Future. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-hydrogen-olympics-lit-a-torch-for-the-clean-fuels-future1/
Klein, K. (2020). Nike reveals uniforms for Tokyo 2020 Olympics. https://www.dezeen.com/2020/03/02/nike-uniforms-tokyo-2020-olympics/
Olympics. Tokyo 2020 Medal Project: Towards an Innovative Future for All. https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/games/medals-project/
Olympics. (2021). Tokyo 2020 to use 100% renewably sourced electricity in Games operations, including electricity generated in Fukushima Prefecture. https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/news/tokyo-2020-to-use-renewably-sourced-electricity-in-games-operations
Romero, G. (2020). Japan to use recyclable material in Olympic Games uniforms. https://latinamericanpost.com/32429-japan-to-use-recyclable-material-in-olympic-games-uniforms
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