We have pledged to make the 2020 Games a positive force for developing solutions to humanity’s universal challenges, including SDGs. We have identified five main themes for prioritising sustainability at the Games and for carrying out initiatives under the Games Sustainability Plan. “Zero Wasting” is one of the goals set for resource management at the Games, helping pave the way toward creation of a society where resources are fully utilised through their entire lifecycle. We are also undertaking initiatives to increase use of recyclable paper containers to reduce single-use plastics, a menacing global issue. We aim for a 99% target rate for reuse/recycling of procured items by establishing a set of rules for management and disposal that will enable further reuse and recycling after the Games. In order to achieve the 65% target rate for waste recycling during operation, we will promote material recycling of paper waste and mixed-plastic waste from businesses, for which domestic material recycling has been limited until now. We actively used recycled materials collected through civic participation actions for medals, award podiums, etc. to raise awareness among the public about sustainability. By carrying out such initiatives, aimed at showcasing a sustainable society, we hope to present a shining example that identifies a new way forward.

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The TOKYO 2020 Games have been planned with an emphasis on the realization of SDGs. Toward this aim, the Urban Mine Medal Project, which uses recycled metal to manufacture the Olympic medals awarded to athletes, is hailed to be a legacy of these Games for two reasons.
　Japan’s Ministry of the Environment has been proactively promoting this project as a way to boost its Small Home Appliance Recycling Law. Participation by various shareholders with regard to the enactment of this law has expanded significantly due to the success of this project. While measuring further promotional points of the system, three important outcomes have emerged based on evaluation and inspection discussions regarding enforcement of the law since its implementation: increased collection amounts, efficient recycling is promoted, and new challenges are addressed. Based on the fact that this Project, actually designed as a “promotional type” system, has made such great progress it is clear we must promote the above mentioned measures, share the story of this project widely, and create a mechanism that ensures all small home appliances are properly and securely handed over from consumers to recyclers.

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In December 2019, TMG launched its Zero Emission Tokyo Strategy and the Plastic Strategy. Both these plans inherit the goals of the Tokyo 2020 Sustainability Plan, including “Towards Zero Carbon,” and aim at realizing “Zero Emission Tokyo” which will be contribute to the global net-zero CO₂ by 2050, pursuing 1.5 °C above preindustrial levels. The Plastic Strategy introduces the vision of a carbon-closed cycle and lays out TMG’s actions for prevention, re-use, and closed-loop recycling. Tokyo 2020 will be an opportunity to think globally and act locally again.

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The Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) welcomed the Olympics Games with an aim to begin reconstruction following WWII devastation. In preparation for the Tokyo Games in 1964, TMG did not make the Olympics itself a primary goal, but opted for “related projects,” among which included long-term plans and heavy investments accordingly. TMG selected several projects under the Waste Management Bureau as “related projects” from the viewpoint of hygiene and beautification, taking into account the approval of foreign visitors.
　These included: 1. Revision of the collection system from the irregular, unhygienic collection system that citizens considered to be a problem, not to mention traffic and fire prevention issues, to a regular collection system that utilized portable containers; 2. Encouragement to introduce flush toilets as the sewer penetration rate in the Tokyo Metropolitan area remained at a 20% range and urine was being collected manually from many households; and 3. Enhanced road and river clean-up schemes. One year after the Olympic Tokyo Games, incidents such as the fly outbreak at Yumenoshima offended the public, the launch of garbage-fueled power generation in Osaka City, and the problems that arose due to industrial waste in some cities, affected administrations when it came to the issue of waste management. Thus, the Olympic Tokyo Games actually created modern waste management systems that led us to our present-day situation.

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The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London were held with an emphasis on sustainability for the first time in Olympic history. In addition to pursuing efforts toward sustainability and zero-waste in relation to the city’s waste policies at that time, we will in this paper introduce our efforts to reduce the potential for waste with the ‘food-loss reduction’ concept, which we hope will become a legacy.
　In addition, for sustainable operation of the Tokyo 2020 Games, which has com on board to realize the SDGs, we participated in the City Development and Sustainability Committee and the Sustainability Discussion Group (DG) as an external expert. The points that were emphasized in the discussions of the “Resource Management Working Group (WG)” and the path of creating the “urban-type regional symbiotic sphere” as a legacy will be viewed mainly with “food-loss reduction” scheme as the main example.
　Now that Tokyo 2020 has been postponed to summer of 2021 due to the spread of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, we hope that we will first reduce the global epidemic together and use this crucial period given to improve the quality of preparation.

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