Tokyo 2020 to Use Recyclable Cardboard Frames for Athletes' Beds in Olympic and Paralympic Games
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The Organizing Committee of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games recently decided that the beds athletes will sleep in at the next Olympic and Paralympic games will include cardboard frames made from high-resistance cardboard and mattresses formed of polyethylene materials that can be recycled. The Organizing Committee unveiled the beds in September 2019.
The measure is part of Tokyo 2020's plans to be more environmentally friendly.
According to Organizing Committee, 18,000 beds are needed for the Olympic village and 8,000 beds for the Paralympic village. All of the bed frames will be made from high-resistance cardboard, which will be able to support weights of up to 200kg, or about about 440 lbs. — more than any athlete weighed at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The Committee said aims to minimize resource waste in its use of materials during the Olympics and has set a target of 99% of items and goods procured for the games being reused or recycled afterwards. As part of plans to be more environmentally friendly, medals for the games are being made entirely from recycled consumer devices, the Olympic torch is made from aluminum waste, podiums from recycled household and marine plastic waste, and electricity powered by renewable sources.
After the games, the beds will be recycled into new paper products and the mattress components into new plastic products.
“This will be the first time in Olympic and Paralympic history that all villages' beds and bedding are made almost entirely from renewable materials,” organizers explained. “This project represents another positive demonstration of ways in which a more sustainable society can be realized using resources more efficiently.”
The Olympics open on July 24 followed by the Paralympics on Aug. 25.
