Press Release

P&G and Tokyo 2020 Announce The Podium Project – The First-Ever Medals Podiums Created from Recycled Plastic for Upcoming Olympic Games

P&G, Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that for the first time in Olympic Games history, all medals podiums will be created entirely from recycled materials - and consumers can directly contribute.

Brand Provided | By Procter & Gamble | Published 5 years ago | About a 3 minute read

Image: Pixabay

Today, in partnership with the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) announced that for the first time in Olympic Games history, all medals podiums will be created entirely from recycled materials – and consumers can directly contribute.

The Tokyo 2020 Podium Project officially kicks off on Wednesday, June 13th, in host-country Japan, inviting members of the community to collect their single use plastic items, like shampoo and dish detergent bottles, and bring them to the nearest AEON Group store location, major Japanese retail chain, for donation. Collection boxes for discarded plastic will be provided in more than 2,000 AEON Group locations across the country, including AEON, AEON Style and MaxValu. The retailer will then forward the plastics to P&G, who will also leverage donated plastic waste recovered from the ocean to contribute to the creation of the podiums. This project helps achieve mutual sustainability goals, expanding P&G’s longstanding larger global partnership with the IOC to help benefit the entire Olympic Movement including the lives of athletes, moms and their families around the world.

“Sustainability is at the heart of this effort and P&G is proud to work with Tokyo 2020 and the IOC to demonstrate how consumers can participate in reducing plastic waste,” said Marc Pritchard, P&G Chief Brand Officer. “The Tokyo 2020 Podium Project is an example of how The Olympics can be a catalyst to inspire actions that have a positive impact on the environment and society.”

The Podium Project also highlights Tokyo 2020’s commitment to engage the entire Japanese nation in the build-up to the Olympic Games, and offers everyone an opportunity to play a role in the preparation. It will also contribute to the achievement of key UN Sustainable Development Goals, including “Responsible Consumption and Production”, “Underwater Life” and “Partnerships for the Goals”.

The new recycled circular economy solutions were introduced as part of a partnership with Loop, a circular e-commerce platform developed by a third party international recycling leader. Each podium will include “post-consumer recycled” goods that have been collected in Japan and transformed into a new product that helps eliminate waste and promotes sustainable solutions. Highlights of the Podium Project include:

The overall goal is to collect 1.5 million pieces of plastic packaging consisting of polyethylene and polypropylene plastic from consumers to reduce recycled plastic resin.
Through this, 75 grams of carbon dioxide will be saved for each piece of plastic recycled
Once the goal of 1.5 million pieces is reached, Tokyo 2020 and P&G will have saved enough carbon dioxide to light a person’s home for 112 years.

Through this project, P&G and Tokyo 2020 will create all podiums to be used by all medaling athletes during the Olympic Games beginning July 24, 2020 and Paralympic Games beginning on August 25, 2020. Together with Tokyo 2020, P&G is planning to unveil the podiums in June 2020. Once The Olympics conclude, P&G’s intent is to recycle the podiums once again, to create new P&G packaging. They will also be used as educational material to explain and promote the Olympic and Paralympic movements and overall importance of sustainability.

The Tokyo 2020 Podium Project is a clear example of P&G’s continued support of the Olympic Agenda 2020, ensuring that the Olympic Games act as a catalyst for sustainable development to build a sustainable future for everyone. This vision closely aligns to P&G’s own commitments of achieving meaningful change that touch and improve lives, as well as P&G’s “Ambition 2030” goal to develop solutions that stem the flow of plastic into the world’s oceans. Additionally, it will be the largest multi-category collection and material recycling program for post-consumption packaging in Japan ever.