USTA St. Louis Provides Solution for Recycling Tennis Balls

Approximately 125 million used tennis balls end up in U.S. landfills every year according to RecycleBalls, a Wilson-backed, Vermont-based nonprofit that upcycles and recycles tennis balls. An estimated seven billion tennis balls have been trashed since 1875, and the 14,000 balls thrown away hourly in America today take about 400 years to decompose naturally.

To aid in this environmental epidemic RecycleBalls, which was founded in 2016, engineered a machine that grinds recycled tennis balls and separates felt from the rubber. The resulting crumb rubber “green gold” — as RecycleBalls dubs it — has a multitude of applications, including incorporation into tennis courts, playground turf, horse footing, mulch, sidewalks and traffic safety equipment.

The company also provides “no trash” dog balls and is in the R&D phase of several new products using recycled ball material, including T-shirts, shoes and a stucco replacement. RecycleBalls collects unwanted tennis balls using green bins placed at tennis facilities across America.

USTA St. Louis recently jumped in on this sustainability effort, as the district purchased a 10-pack of RecycleBalls receptacles and has some placed at Dwight Davis Tennis Center in Forest Park. The timing of the pilot program works well with spring leagues in swing and Earth Day taking place April 22.

Severine Huchet — USTA St. Louis district league coordinator for adults — said the idea to research a solution to the used tennis balls dilemma came during a conversation with Carobeth Kelly, general manager of Dwight Davis. The two discussed how tennis balls get left on courts after league matches and ultimately land in trash cans.

Huchet did some digging and came across the RecycleBalls organization. The 10-pack of bins USTA St. Louis purchased from RecycleBalls come with prepaid shipping labels. Huchet said league players as well as anyone else competing at Dwight Davis can feel free to utilize the bins, and the district may place some of the bins at locations beyond Dwight in the future.

“It’s a win-win for everyone,” Huchet said. “We’re starting with 10 boxes. If they fill up, we’ll get more. If you do have tennis balls in your bag, drop them off here. We’ll recycle them for you. It helps you, and it helps the planet.”