Pickleball Plastic Ball Recycling Initiative: As pickleball grows across the U.S., broken plastic balls are piling up in landfills. Jeff Pepper from Verona started a recycling program to collect and repurpose these balls. With help from Ultra-Poly Corp. and local centers, over 1,000 used pickleballs have already been collected for recycling.
Rising Waste from a Popular Sport
More than 500 million pickleballs are made each year. Most end up in the trash once they crack or break. Jeff Pepper, a member of Allegheny Cleanways, said, “The number is huge. After a while, they break or crack and, normally, people just toss them.”
These balls, made from polyethylene and polypropylene, can’t go in home recycling bins. “The balls shouldn’t be thrown in the trash,” said Jeff Pepper, “but they also shouldn’t be part of household recycling.”
Because they are small and light, pickleballs can clog up recycling machines. That’s why a special program is needed to collect and reuse them safely.
Turning Waste Into a New Resource
Jeff Pepper reached out to Ultra-Poly Corp., a large U.S. plastics recycler. The company offered to take the balls and turn them into recycled resin. Pepper said, “I asked them how many balls they could hold for us, and they have bins big enough to hold a Volkswagen.”
Ultra-Poly Corp. has five plants, including one in Scranton. It produces over one million pounds of recycled resin daily.
Locally, Pepper and other volunteers have placed bins in several areas to collect balls:
Riverbank Park, Verona
Riverview Park, Oakmont
Lauri Ann West Community Center, O’Hara
Bairdford Park, West Deer
Monroeville Community Park, Monroeville
The Pickleball Warehouse, Pittsburgh
In just one month, more than 1,000 used balls have been collected from around 20 bins.
Community Joins the Cause
The Lauri Ann West Community Center in O’Hara is one of the program’s key partners. Shannon Smith, the center’s community engagement specialist, said, “When Jeff introduced the opportunity to join the recycling program, we eagerly accepted. It aligns with our commitment to sustainability.”
The center offers over 60 hours of court time each week and serves a large pickleball community.
The Pickleball Warehouse, a large indoor facility in Pittsburgh’s East End, is now the main collection site for the project.
Inspiration from Other Cities
Jeff Pepper’s recycling work is part of a larger trend. In Portland, Maine, the RePickle Project is finding new ways to reuse broken balls—turning them into art, birdhouses, jewelry, and furniture.
The RePickle Project started when Laura Thompson, now the group’s executive director, gathered over 3,000 broken balls in her garage while looking for ways to reuse them.
Jeff Pepper believes small actions matter. “I’m not going to singlehandedly change the world, but if every ball ends up being recycled, it adds up,” he said. “We could recycle an infinite number of pickleballs if everyone does their part.”
News in Brief: Pickleball Plastic Ball Recycling Initiative
Jeff Pepper started a recycling program for broken pickleballs, collecting over 1,000 in one month. The balls are reused by Ultra-Poly Corp., a major plastics recycler. Local sites and community centers now serve as collection spots, helping reduce plastic waste from America’s fastest-growing sport.
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