What do you do with old, broken pickleballs?
Can I recycle pickleballs?
This is a question that we get asked fairly frequently. Unfortunately, pickleballs themselves cannot be recycled by a recycling center.
In the May 2014 USAPA e-Newsletter, Dennis Dacey, USAPA Rules Chair, states that he believes the answer is “no”:
“For now the simple answer appears to be ‘no,’ a pickleball cannot economically be recycled. I’m no expert, but from what I see, because of the type of material with which it is combined and the fact that there is no recycling symbol, the ball is impractical for recycling.”
That being said, you can always get a little creative with these broken, disformed, out-of-round, or otherwise unusable pickleballs! Here’s a list of some ideas we gathered from the Internet:
- A Hanging Parking Guide via Facebook
2. Googley-Eyed Sunglasses via Facebook
3. A Hanging Pickleball Mascot via Facebook
4. A Pickleball Christmas Tree via Facebook
5. A Tree Decorated with Painted Pickleballs via Facebook
6. Pickleball Mobiles via Facebook
7. Pickleball Friendship Balls via Facebook
Friendship Balls, an idea by Nadine McKay
In case you’d like to make some, here’s the supply list: Yarn and darning needle, skein of inexpensive colorful yarn, scissors and broken pickleballs. Each skein will make four to five balls. Wrap the ball about five times to create a form. Use the blanket stitch and fill each section. Or wrap the center of the ball and then do a blanket stitch consistently, each row becoming smaller until the end. Don’t worry if you miss a stitch, this is not rocket science technology!
8. Painted Pickleball Trophies for Tournaments via Jennifer Lucore’s pickleball blog
9. Costumes denoting Pickleball Royalty via Facebook:
10. Golf Cart Decor
There are definitely some very creative pickleball recyclers out there! Do you have any clever uses for broken pickleballs? Let us know!
I create 3 layer serving dishes. I would post a photo but I can’t find how…It can be done as others have posted photos.
I’m contacting Terracycle to see if they can recycle them. They upcycle everything from cigarette butts to gum…so maybe it can be a possibility!
Hi Anne, that sounds great! If you hear back from them and happen to remember this post, we’d love to know how it goes.
Hi Laura, They said I can contact pickleball companies..but I got too busy. Instead, my husband and I forked over the $200 bucks for a box from terracycle that is 11 x11x 40 inches that they send us and we will cut all the balls so they nestle inside eachother and pack the box with as many balls as we can. Hopefully, people in our club will pitch in a couple dollars to help us defer the cost.
Hi Anne, I am part of a group working on expanding recycling of pickleballs. We have a recycling center ready to do a pilot and we need as many balls as possible. If you have not turned in your batch to TeraCycle yet, I would be interested in getting them for the pilot. I am reaching out to several large pickleball centers for collection as well. I hope this turns into something sustainable and more affordable (i.e. free) than TeraCycle!
Laura (repickleproject@gmail.com)
they have bottle trees for wine bottles why not a pickleball tree for pickleballs i plan on making one
Our club makes garlands and wreaths to hang around the courts each December.
I dont see why a company cant take them back, melt and remold them. We really need to find a legitimate “green ” solution, inorder to bring even more positive attention to this great sport.
Our club repairs them (if they only have a single crack between 2 holes) with a dab or superglue and uses them for beginner training. Yes, they don’t bounce true but the beginners don’t hit true either. Some crafty person has also used them for trophies for informal, intra-xlub tournaments.
in the Wichita area we tape broken balls and donate them to various elementary schools.
yes i make magnets and place on car..have one now still on after several car washes and 5k miles of driving. some use on REFRIG.
When we have one that’s broke I cut the bottom out and stick it on a trailer ball as a cover.
i give broken balls to the little league baseball teams for batting practice.. also good to use on batting tee.