Tennis Australia commits to national ball recycling program

Tennis Australia has become the first national sports body to sign up to the TreadLightly National Recycling Initiative - an industry-led national recycling program managed by the Australian Sporting Goods Association (ASGA).

TreadLightly’s new sports ball recycling program aims to reduce the amount of sport waste sent to landfill and help sports enthusiasts lower their impact on the planet.

Previously known as the Game On Recycling Program, TreadLightly has expanded to accept balls and shoes from all sporting codes, enabling it to significantly curb the amount of sport waste sent to landfill.

Under the program, used sports shoes and balls are transformed into recycling crumb, which is used to manufacture new products such as retail flooring, gym mats and underlay for sporting surfaces.

Tennis Australia Chief Tennis Officer, Tom Larner commented “Tennis Australia is delighted to be the first national sporting organisation to sign on to TreadLightly’s new sports ball program.

“We have long been involved in different initiatives for recycling used tennis balls and it’s fantastic to be a part of this national program, which accepts shoe and balls from all sports, allowing it to have a truly significant impact.

“We will work with tennis clubs nationally that want to be a part of the program, and we look forward to seeing more sporting codes, clubs and brands across the country sign on.”

Tennis Australia and Dunlop are among the national sporting organisations and brands that have invested in the program, with tennis the first sport to join.

There are TreadLightly collection bins stationed at 60 tennis clubs across the country, which are ready to accept used balls from all sporting codes, not just tennis.

ASGA Executive Director, Shaun Bajada added “it’s great to work closely with Tennis Australia and leading sports retailers and manufacturers to help reduce the impact of sport in Australia.

“I’m proud of how the sporting goods sector has worked together to find a responsible end-of-life solution for the millions of balls that end up in landfill every year.”

It’s predicted that 330 million balls are made worldwide each year, and most of these eventually end up in landfill. Ball components can also take more than 400 years to decompose, highlighting the urgent need for effective recycling solutions.

TreadLightly aims for 100% of the sports ball to be recycled. The ball is cut into pieces, reusable components are extracted, including rubber, leather and fibres and turned into recycled crumb at local recycling plants.

Tennis clubs can register their interest to be involved in the program to collect balls. The program is intended to be rolled out across all types of sporting clubs across the country.

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Images: TreadLightly has expanded to accept balls and shoes from all sporting codes, enabling it to significantly curb the amount of sport waste sent to landfill (top) and Tennis Australia will be the first national sporting organisation to sign on to TreadLightly’s new sports ball recycling program (below, credit: Kit Haselden/Tennis Australia).