The world鈥檚 best athletes will receive their gold medals at the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer while standing on trash. Recycled food containers, to be exact. The silver-colored Olympic podiums, currently being raised across France, were made in a small factory on the outskirts of Paris by a start-up called Le Pav茅 using 100 percent recycled plastic. It鈥檚 a first for any Olympic Games.
鈥淭here is an overabundance of plastic that is harming the environment, but which also has proven economic potential if it can be repurposed,鈥� said Marius Hamelot, 29, a co-founder of Le Pav茅, as he darted around his plant, a converted former steel foundry.
That鈥檚 not all: Le Pav茅 also made 11,000 bleacher seats for two nearby sports arenas that were built for the Games 鈥� all manufactured from used shampoo bottles and millions of multicolored bottle caps. Just a few years ago, the company had only three employees. But an unexpected call from Olympic organizers led to a beefy contract, and the company has expanded to a staff of 34 and opened two factories. In the process, it has become a poster child for the Paris Olympic committee, which has pledged to make these Olympic Games the greenest in history.