RecycleBalls is an innovative, youth-driven 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization with a mission to recycle/and reuse every tennis ball in the United States!  We began in Vermont in 2016 and the tremendous success of our pilot program has allowed us to expand nationwide and help individuals and facilities leverage the lessons we’ve learned in adopting these proven processes.

We’re not your typical nonprofit.  We’re applying best practices from manufacturing and distribution to achieve our goals quickly and efficiently. The shared nature of our mission has inspired people of every age to get involved. A growing network of partners and individuals are spearheading a first-of-its-kind positive change for U.S. tennis by their example and are ensuring that tennis in the U.S. will become a green sport.

What is RecycleBalls?

RecycleBalls is a networked collection solution:
1. We are the first organization in U.S. tennis history with a large scale collection solution for all played tennis balls in this country.   
2. Our patented QUICKSHIP bin/program is the simplest way for individuals and facilities around the nation to recycle tennis balls. Not only does the program provide pre-paid shipping but in addition provides a tax donation for every ball donated.

RecycleBalls is a full recycling solution:
1. We created RecycleBalls Green Gold in 2017.  This unique crumb rubber product, made from tennis balls, can be easily incorporated into many existing processes .
2. This rubber product was the result of developing a process that removes 99% of the felt from tennis balls in a cost-effective manner.
3. The first products made with RecycleBall’s Green Gold were created in 2018 with new strategic partners.  

In February 2019, Recycleballs was one of four non profits nominated as an environmental  finalist in the prestigious 2019 Halo awards.

Why is tennis so wasteful?
Tennis players recognize a significant environmental problem and agree that U.S. tennis players need to change their habits and recycle their tennis balls. Typically, tennis players open a new can of tennis balls every time they play because of the quick decline in pressure and the lack of consistency in previously played balls. Nationwide, approximately 125 million used tennis balls wind up in America’s landfills every year. That is 20,000 metric tons of methane-producing rubber waste that takes 400 years to decompose!

What do tennis players want?
Tennis players want to do what is right environmentally and would recycle all of their balls if there were easily accessible courtside recycling bins available where they play. Organizations want to be part of the solution, but there needs to be a return of value that reflects well on their brand without increasing expenses. In short, there needs to be a cost-effective, universally adopted initiative to collect, recycle and publicize a solution that will keep all tennis balls out of U.S. landfills.

Why have tennis balls not been recycled in the US until now?
Simply put – there is no money in it.

Profitability from recycled tennis ball rubber is almost non-existent given that it must compete with low-cost ubiquitous tire rubber. There has been no formalized tennis ball collection program/solution prior to RecyleBalls that was sustainable and nationally scalable. There is also the prohibitive factor of costly necessary infrastructure and costs of de-felting and the management needed to facilitate these efforts. For these reasons, tennis ball recycling has not been able to successfully materialize, despite the depth of the problem and the considerable passion to see this happen.

Regardless of the challenges above, we set out in 2017 with a program idea and a bold non-profit mission without knowing exactly how we would make any of it work. We felt that “if we built it, the solutions would appear.” 

How has this been funded?
This non-profit was initiated by the passion and generosity of a few who volunteered their time, talent and treasure. We started small and grew quickly by offering no-cost programs with a hope that these programs would be permanently funded by corporate donors and the generosity of the US tennis community whose habits we were changing. 

However, the funding to power this growth was simply not sustainable, especially since we were not subsidized by any grants, associations or government funding. This required a creative approach to funding our growth including:

• Leveraging of volunteer resources.

• Automating all communications and processes.

• Hiring part-time staffing.

• Selling balls as recyclable “no trash” dog balls.

• Fundraising through our existing partner network.

• Outreach to corporate sponsors.

In 2019 we signed a three-year partnership with Wilson Sporting Goods – our key sponsor and partner who has generously provided us with some funding and institutional guidance. 

Is this model sustainable?
After 3 years of growth and despite our best efforts to maintain no-cost programs, we outlived volunteer management resources and were no longer able to fund increasing full-time expenses. We had to make a change. 

In January 2020 we made a decision to require a fee-based donation/sponsor model for all of our programs. This new fee-based system will ensure our sustainability and growth including funding the necessary R&D to create high publicity value products from recycled tennis balls. With more awareness and a continuing outreach for more corporate partners and donors, we hope to revert back to no-cost programs in the near future. 

What about sales of the recycled material?
Currently, our recycling line, the PLAY IT GREEN machine, represents a net expense. Given increasing sustainability interest and our commitment to finding new partners and potential products, this is changing. The investment we have made in this new, first-of-its-kind, custom-built recycling line, holds the promise that with increased production and further product R&D, the GREEN GOLD produced may fund much of this initiative.

Will you spread this mission beyond the USA?
Given such a positive response and substantial network growth in the USA, we have continued to receive a stream of requests to bring our patented bin system, programs, processes, and intellectual property to other countries. In 2020, we changed our mission to “Recycle and reuse ALL tennis balls” with a goal to spread this mission globally in a considered, cost-effective fashion.