Olympics champions honored on 3D printed recycled plastic

Rarely seen, the podiums on which Olympic champions stand to receive their medals are usually purely functional, but not at the Games this summer in Tokyo, where the podiums are artistically and environmentally produced. 

Born from the theme of sustainability at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, each of the 98 podiums stores raw materials and saves energy, as they are 3D-printed from recycled plastic and can be recycled again after the Games.

In the last few years, the Japanese have contributed tons of plastic to the podiums by throwing their empty detergent bottles and shampoo tubes into special collection boxes at more than 2,000 locations across the country.

The podium material also includes plastic extracted from the ocean, an initiative of the International Olympic Committee "Clean Seas".

Symbolically significant

Each Olympic and Paralympic podium contains the official "harmonized plaid" emblem of the rethought 2020 Games in Tokyo.

Podium designer Tokolo Asao says the Tokyo 2020 emblems are based on the geometry of the diamonds he modified to create the pattern on the catwalks. The official emblems form a 12-sided polygon - called a dodecagon - that looks a bit like a circle. The design of the podium was created by reconfiguring the dodecagon into a cube. In fact, each podium is made of separate 3D printed cubes, which Asao hopes to keep for memory from the games. "The basic philosophy was to create something we'd like to keep, instead of throwing it away," he said.

Proctor & Gamble says that after the Games, plastic that is not used for educational purposes to promote the role of the Olympic movement in sustainability will be recycled back into packaging for P&G products.

"The Tokyo 2020 catwalk project is an example of how the Olympics can be a catalyst for stimulating action that has a positive impact on the environment and society," said Mark Pritchard, CEO of P&G.

The symbol of the Olympic ring in front of the podiums is made from aluminum scrap from temporary housing built for families affected by the 2011 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami.

In addition to being beautiful, the Olympic podiums have 75 grams of carbon dioxide, which is not released into the atmosphere, and energy savings equal to those used to light a normal house for 112 years.

"In the future, catwalks will attract more attention as something that needs to be designed professionally (and sustainably)," says Asao.