Quicklabel Program and Give Form

GET QUICKLABELS HERE

For Individuals with 100 or more tennis balls

Please donate $20 or more to help cover our non-profit costs.

It costs our non-profit about $20 for shipping, per label.
We depend on donations to offer this service.
If you cannot afford to donate please click here.

Who is this for?

Individuals or organizations with 100 or more tennis balls to be shipped immediately.
We provide instant UPS shipping labels and a tax benefit. You will need to supply your own boxes.
Facilities? See our QUICKSHIP program here.

Is there a cost?

Our non-profit depends on donations to maintain this program and keep our lights on.
Due to the generosity of tennis players and others nationwide, RecycleBalls still provides a no-cost option to encourage our youth (or those who may not afford it) to recycle.
If you can afford a donation, please help us keep this sustainable.

We’ve made it EASY!

GET LABELS: Assuming you can ship immediately, just fill in the form on right and we will email you shipping labels – instantly!
SHIP: Drop off your labeled box(es) anywhere UPS picks up or delivers. UPS will take these when they deliver or pickup.
RECEIVE TAX DEDUCTIONS and FEEL AMAZING! We will email you a receipt as soon as we receive your shipment. See benefit details below.

Get QuickLabels here

QuickLabel Donation

$ Donation Amount:

Please enter donation above

Select Payment Method

Mastercard and Visa
PayPal

Personal Info

First Name *

Last Name

Email Address *

Phone

Number of Labels

Credit Card Info

This is a secure SSL encrypted payment.

Card Number *

CVC *

Cardholder Name *

Expiration *

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Donation Total: $20.00

Once submitted, your labels will be processed and should reach your inbox within 60 minutes. The typical wait is about 30 minutes. Please do not resubmit the form.

QUICKLABEL FAQS

Questions and answers about Quicklabel

Why recycle with us?

We are a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit with a mission to recycle and reuse all tennis balls. As a nonprofit, you will receive a tax deduction and the peace of mind that we are working to reuse tennis balls or keep tennis out of U.S. landfills.

What are the shipping guidelines?

Need more than 6 labels at a time? Email us at team@recycleballs.org
Collect and box your tennis balls before ordering labels.
Write the total # of balls contained on the exterior of the box.
Wait 7 – 10 days before ordering more labels.
Each label is good for one box weighing up to 45 pounds and containing between 100 and 350 balls.
Each label can only be used once.
This program is only open to residents of the continental USA.
Please use this form only if you are ready to ship.

When will I receive a tax benefit receipt?

RecycleBalls will provide an automatic email receipt as soon as we receive any shipment from you. This receipt will note the date and the number of tennis balls donated. It’s up to you to fill in the value. You will get a receipt every time we receive a shipment from you.

Should all printed labels have the same weight and addresses?

Yes. We use special labels from UPS tracked to you via the barcode. All of these labels indicate 26Lbs and have the same addresses on purpose. Please apply ONE label per box that you are shipping and they will get to us.

What type of boxes should I use?

The following will give you an idea how many tennis balls fit into different sized boxes. Please use the largest boxes possible.

TAX BENEFIT FAQS

Questions and answers about our the tax benefit

Who assigns a value to tennis balls as a deduction?

The IRS requires the donor (you or the person you designate) to assign values to non-cash charitable donations. The value is not the original purchase price but the estimated resale value in its current condition.

What are tennis balls worth as a deduction?

As an example, if you donate 1,000 tennis balls over the course of the year and you choose to value these at $.40 each, then this could be a $400 tax deduction. It is up to you to determine this value. You will receive a tax deduction benefit receipt via email as soon as we receive any tennis balls from you.

Who can claim this benefit?

This benefit can now be allocated to any designated donor, person, organization or sponsor even if they are not part of your organization.

What forms will I need to file my tax return?

If the total deduction for non-cash charitable contributions is $500 or less, you may claim the entire amount on Schedule A. If over $500; you will need to fill out the applicable sections of Form 8283 to support your Schedule A amount.

GENERAL FAQS

Questions and answers about our Non-Proffit

What is RecycleBalls?

RecycleBalls is a national player driven initiative to reuse and recycle all tennis balls.
We are the first organization in U.S. tennis history with a large scale collection solution for all played tennis balls in this country.
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.
We created RecycleBalls Green Gold in 2017. This unique crumb rubber product, made from tennis balls, can be easily incorporated into many existing processes.
This rubber product was the result of developing a process that removes 99% of the felt from tennis balls in a cost-effective manner.
The first products made with RecycleBall’s Green Gold were created in 2018 with new strategic partners.
We created RecycleBalls Green Gold in 2017. This unique crumb rubber product, made from tennis balls, can be easily incorporated into many existing processes.
This rubber product was the result of developing a process that removes 99% of the felt from tennis balls in a cost-effective manner.
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 nonprofits 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!

Why have tennis balls not been recycled in the USA 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.

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 compelling easy to use programs. Our funding is derived from a number of sources:

Donations to offset existing program costs.
Fundraising through our existing partner network.
Outreach to Corporate sponsors.
Sales of our Green Gold for use in tennis courts and other products.
Selling balls as recyclable “NO TRASH” dog balls.
Leveraging of volunteer resources.

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?

Until we can fully monetize our recycled products we still need support from the tennis community and corporate sponsors. We have grown more sustainable every year since we started in 2017. With more awareness and continuing outreach, we are encouraged this will become a highly successful model for other countries.

What about the sale of recycled tennis balls?

Currently, our recycling line, the PLAY IT GREEN machine, represents a net expense. Given increasing green 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 this grow outside of the USA?

Given such a positive response and substantial network growth in the USA and now Canada, 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.

How did you arrive at 7 biilion balls trashed in the USA since 1874?

Methodology

2010-2021 period. Since virtually all tennis ball production left the US with the end of the first decade of the 21st century, import data for the 2010-2021 period was understood to be a good approximation to the number of balls disposed of in the US in that period. Import data was taken form the World Integrated Trade Solution’s website. Data for 2014 was anomalously low and was substituted by taking the mean of the value for 203 and 2015. When first quarter data was given the annual number was assumed to be four times the first quarter data. Links to sources is given in the addendum.
1874-2009 period. Data from this period originates in newspaper reports of the number of tennis balls sold or used in the US in particular years (with one exception coming from the Tennis Industry Association). Data for 28 years comprised between 1921 and 2007 was obtained in that way. The figures for the years for which no data was found in newspaper archives were imputated through linear interpolation. The figure belonging to the year immediately previous to the year tennis was introduced to the US and the figures corresponding to the years of World War 2 were set to 0.

Number of balls

7.04 billion

(7043608786)

Number of balls by year:

Cumulative number of balls by year:

Year of introduction of the first ball

1874

This is the year that, as far as records can show us, lawn tennis was first played in the US. Though it is not known who and when exactly did it first, it seems it arrived independently at several places within the East Coast.

Source: Collins, B. (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis: An Authoritative Encyclopedia and Record Book (2nd ed.). New Chapter Press.

Addendum 1: source links

In order to read most of the linked newspapers a subscription to Newspapers.com is needed. Nevertheless, the newspaper, date and page where the information is found can be seen by clicking in the link (to see the page you have to close the subscription pop-up).

1921: https://www.newspapers.com/image/181447205/

1931: https://www.newspapers.com/image/127615869/

1935: https://www.newspapers.com/image/793641788/

1949: https://www.newspapers.com/image/828770842/

1952: https://www.newspapers.com/image/793641788/

1958: https://www.newspapers.com/image/828770842/

1961: www.newspapers.com/image/807392483/

1962: https://www.newspapers.com/image/383024778/

1967: https://www.newspapers.com/image/317118233/

1968: https://www.newspapers.com/image/451245565/

1973: https://www.newspapers.com/image/775865425/

1975: www.newspapers.com/image/165841245/