Rio 2016 medals to contain recycled metal

Rio de Janeiro: The medals that will be awarded at the Rio 2016 Olympics will be produced by Brazilian Mint from materials including recycled electronic equipment.

The initiative, conceived by the local organising committee's design team, forms part of Rio's Olympic sustainability pledge, Xinhua quoted Rio2016.com as saying Monday.

Almost 5,000 award medals and 75,000 participation medals for the event will be produced by the Brazilian Mint, a public company linked to the federal treasury department.

"The medals are one of the most important symbols of the Games and we are very pleased that we can count on the Brazilian Mint as our partner in this unique moment in the history of the Brazilian sport," said Rio 2016 president Carlos Nuzman.

Brazilian Mint president Francisco Franco said he hoped for a larger-than-ever contingent of Brazilian medal recipients.

"The Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro is a very special event and we could not stay out of it," Franco said.