News Introduced to the world in June in a blaze of glory, the medals that top athletes will receive at the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games set new standards for sustainability In total, 5,310 pieces have been produced by the Brazilian Mint, using only precious metals that have been either recycled or extracted according to the highest standards of sustainable mining – The gold used by the Brazilian Mint is extracted without the use of mercury The mining operation chosen was also submitted to a series of inspections to ensure that miners were working under good conditions – The silver and bronze medals consist of 30 per cent recycled material Some of the silver was obtained from X-ray plates, car parts and mirror surfaces The copper used to create the bronze was recycled from discarded materials at the Mint itself   – In total about 2 5 tons of metals were used to create the medals, including gold, silver, bronze, zinc and copper The medals that the athletes will receive weigh around 500 grams each – It took about two days to create each medal The medals have won plaudits for their design and their sustainability (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro) – The Paralympic Games medals include a tiny metal device that emits a sound when the medal is shaken The medals will produce more sound depending on the metal used, with the gold medal being the loudest The material used to make the rattle has been recycled from discarded material from the Brazilian Mint – Half of the material for the ribbons is made from plastic bottles sold by an association of people who make their living collecting used bottles for resale – The presentation cases that will store the Rio 2016 medals are made from freijó wood sourced from a forest whose production has been certified as sustainable    The medal cases are made from wood from certified sustainable sources (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro)