Can you imagine circuit boards hanging on your neck presented as medal after winning a game? J Medalists at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games will celebrate with circuit boards hanging from their necks.
That’s true. Gold, silver, and bronze medals for the future events will be full of metal from recycled TVs, computers, and keyboards and all possible gadgets that might have otherwise ended up in a waste bin. Vancouver metals giant Teck Resources is producing and supplying the medals along with the Royal Canadian Mint.
To acquire the metal for the medals (with great mettle, no doubt), Teck is recovering materials from cathode ray tube glass, computer parts, and circuit boards through smelting process. The process involves shredding, separating, and heating electronic components, then combining the byproducts with metals from other sources.
More than 1,000 medals are currently being produced for the 2010 games.
Also, the medals are wavy rather than flat, a form inspired by the oceanic waves, drifting snow, and mountainous landscapes found in the Games region and throughout the Canada.
