A tennis ball doesn’t last long: on the professional circuit, they are changed every 7 to 9 games. In clubs, they are kept longer, but almost all end up in the trash. Yet, a ball takes centuries to degrade. Here’s how to recycle them and how to use fewer.
A Real Waste Problem
- 17 million balls are used each year in France.
- Only about 5% are recycled, according to the French Tennis Federation (FFT).
- A ball can take up to 2,500 years to degrade.
The issue is growing with the rise of padel, which uses very similar balls: the FFT exceeded 100,000 padel license holders in 2025, up over 40% in one year.
A ball is difficult to recycle because it combines two materials glued together: a rubber core and felt. Separating them requires specific processing.
The Yellow Ball Operation: Drop Off Your Balls at Clubs
Since 2009, the FFT has been collecting used balls with its partner Coved, a waste treatment specialist:
- Participating clubs install collection bins where anyone can drop off their balls, from any brand, without sorting or cleaning them.
- The balls are gathered and then crushed. The rubber is separated from the felt and turned into granules.
- These granules become sports surfaces, donated to social and solidarity organizations: rehabilitation centers, medico-educational institutes, children’s hospitals…
The results: over 17 million balls collected and 48 sports surfaces created since the launch. However, the annual collection of around 1.2 million balls represents only one ball per license holder per year. The FFT aims to at least double this.
Since 2022, the operation also accepts used sports equipment (rackets, bags…), which is reused or sent to recycling.
In practice: Ask your club if it participates. If not, it can obtain collection bins from its FFT development advisor.
For padel, private players are also emerging: the startup Bounce, for example, recycled 200,000 balls in one year, with around fifty equipped clubs.
Circular Balls: The Renewaball Example
The Dutch startup Renewaball goes further: it manufactures new balls from old ones.
- It collects balls of all brands from clubs using containers that hold about 350 balls.
- It separates the rubber and felt, then reuses the rubber in new balls.
- The felt of its balls is 100% natural (wool and cotton), and the tube is fully recyclable.
- Its tennis balls are pressurized, suitable for all court types, and approved by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
According to the company, a Renewaball contains at least 30% recycled material, reducing its environmental footprint by about 30% compared to a conventional ball. These balls are still rare in recreational clubs and more expensive than entry-level balls.
Pressureless Balls: Less Waste
A conventional ball is pressurized: it contains gas under pressure that gradually escapes, making it "dead" even if the felt is still in good condition.
A pressureless ball has the same pressure inside as outside: its bounce comes solely from its thicker rubber. It therefore does not lose its bounce over time.
Advantages
- Much longer lifespan: it is changed when the felt is worn, not when it loses pressure.
- Fewer balls bought and discarded, thus less waste and expense.
- Ideal for training, ball machines, beginners, and occasional players, whose pressurized balls deflate between sessions.
Disadvantages
- A heavier and harder ball, with less comfort and feel.
- A different bounce, less suited to competition.
- A risk to the arm for players with fragile technique or returning from injury: if pain occurs, it’s better to switch back to pressurized balls and seek advice.
Extending the Life of Pressurized Balls
Between the two, there’s a simple solution: the pressurized tube. It keeps balls under pressure between sessions, slowing the loss of gas. According to tests cited by specialized sites, it can extend their lifespan by about 30%.
A few other tips:
- Store your balls in a temperate place, never in a car in the sun or extreme cold.
- Keep slightly worn balls for warm-ups, wall practice, or basket drills.
- Donate those you no longer want to a tennis school or club, which can use them for training younger players.
- Drop them off at the end of their life in a Yellow Ball Operation bin.
Give Your Equipment a Second Life with Sportwhen
A pressurized tube gathering dust in a closet, extra boxes of pressureless balls, a racket you no longer use? Post them in the Sportwhen sports classifieds: they’ll be used by another player instead of ending up in the trash. And to find a club near you, check the Where to Play section.
In a future article, we’ll look at what to do with all other used sports equipment: rackets, ping-pong balls, shuttlecocks, shoes…
Sources
- FFT: The Yellow Ball Operation (Club Guide) and 2025 presentation file
- FFT Seine-Saint-Denis Committee: Yellow Ball Operation
- Île-de-France Tennis League: Yellow Ball Operation
- Recy.net: Recycling padel and tennis balls
- Renewaball: FAQ and used ball collection
- Mouratoglou: Pressureless tennis balls
- Protennis: The principle of pressureless balls
- Tennis Attitude: Pressurized vs. pressureless balls and pressurized tubes
