Teens recycle old tennis and pickleballs to keep millions out of landfills

A group of twelve high school students from Pacific Palisades, California, has turned a small environmental frustration into a fast-growing movement. Their project, Another Bounce, launched in partnership with the nonprofit Habits of Waste, collects used tennis and pickleballs for recycling, with an Earth Day collection event held on 19 April 2026 aiming to set a Guinness World Record.

The problem they are tackling is bigger than it sounds. Roughly 500 million non-biodegradable tennis and pickleballs are discarded into landfills every year, and each one can take more than 400 years to break down. The existing record for recycling tennis balls stands at just 1,000, and no pickleball record exists yet, so the teens saw a clear opening to make a measurable difference.

The group includes young athletes who know these sports well, among them Leo Morovati, a varsity tennis player, and Ford Casady, ranked number one nationally in junior pickleball. Once collected, the balls are sent to a Los Angeles recycler that shreds, washes and pelletizes them. The recycled material is reborn as nursery pots, carpeting, packaging and even brand new pickleballs.

What makes the effort so encouraging is its simplicity and reach. Anyone can mail in their worn-out balls, turning a piece of sporting waste into something useful. By combining their love of sport with environmental responsibility, these students are showing that young people do not have to wait to start solving problems, and that even a humble used ball can be given another bounce.