The article in the url below announces what seems to be a worthwhile use for e-waste:
"All medals at next summer's Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo will be made from recycled electronic waste, including discarded smartphones, digital cameras and other handheld games and laptops, organizers revealed on Friday."
The organizing committee have already collected most of the metal they will need:
"… municipal authorities had already collected 47,488 tons of junked devices by November, roughly 19 months after the project was launched with targets of 30.3kg of gold, 4,100kg of silver and 2,700kg of bronze. The goal for bronze was reached in June, while more than 90% of the gold and 85% of the silver has been collected, officials said."
This seems to be a policy that is not new, but has been extended in scope for Tokyo:
"The concept has been implemented in previous Olympics, most recently at Rio 2016, where an estimated 30% of the silver and bronze medals were wrought from recycled materials. … the current project will mark the first time citizens have been proactively involved with the donation of consumer electronics."
The key with such proposals, however, is whether they are substantive or symbolic. Sure, they help raise awareness of a difficult issue, briefly, but presenting it in a way that is all warm and fuzzy saves us from feeling uncomfortable about what is an extremely serious problem. Moreover, by not asking us to alter our behavior (or make any kind of sacrifice), the feeling is that someone else must be taking care of this – a reaction that ensures the issue will move back into our distant subconscious as quickly as it was brought forward with this announcement. The result is that the organizers get to greenwash the Olympics and nothing of any substance changes.
Take care
David
Instructor Teaching and Student Study Site: https://study.sagepub.com/chandler4e
Strategic CSR Simulation: http://www.strategiccsrsim.com/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: https://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/
Tokyo 2020 medals to be made from discarded smartphones and laptops
Tokyo 2020 medals to be made from discarded smartphones and laptops
February 8, 2019
The Guardian
