Evergreen Tennis
Each year, over 325 million tennis balls are purchased around the world, with 130 million balls from the US. Tennis balls are only effective for a very short period of time, and combining this with the presence of 18 million dedicated tennis players in the US, a LOT of balls accumulate together.
Even though tennis balls are known to be detrimental to the environment (taking at least 400 years to decompose in landfills), less than 0.5% are recycled. In fact, the annual amount of tennis balls ending up in landfills could fill the Empire State Building till the 62nd story! Unfortunately, the reason 98% of tennis players throw away their balls is because they aren’t aware of green and accessible options.
Tennis balls are primarily manufactured with rubber and zinc with 11 stages of modification to create the desired product. They are placed in pressurized cans to maintain the optimal bounce. Most amateur tennis players use a new can of balls for each match or practice, while professionals may grind through multiple in a couple of hours. Once tennis balls lose their quality, they are simply discarded and new balls are used. As a result, it is impossible for people to keep reusing old balls, since that would eliminate performance from the game.
In addition, recycling tennis balls requires a separate grinding process in which fuzz is removed and rubber is chopped up into smaller chunks. The complex recycling method limits initiative towards “greener tennis.” While repurposing balls is a thoughtful solution, it isn’t enough to meet the demands of the issue.
We believe that the end of a tennis ball’s life cycle shouldn’t be the landfillー it should be towards supporting tennis. By using tennis balls in constructing and resurfacing fresh courts, we can ensure that tennis balls rest in peace while serving the purpose they were born to do.
