Australia generates millions of dead tennis, padel, and pickleball balls every year. Almost all of them end up in landfill — because until now, there was nowhere else for them to go.
Tennis balls are made from pressurised rubber with a felt outer — a composite that standard recycling facilities in Queensland simply cannot process. Padel balls are chemically identical. Pickleball balls are hard plastic polymer, which sounds recyclable but requires specialist separation most councils don't have.
The result: approximately 10 million tennis balls are sold in Australia each year, the average ball lasts 1–6 hours of competitive play, and without a dedicated program, almost all of them end up in landfill.
Can tennis balls go in the recycling bin? No — rubber composite cannot be processed by kerbside recycling in any Queensland council area. Putting them in the yellow bin contaminates the load. Second Serve's specialist collection is the only recycling pathway in Queensland.
Bins are installed directly at participating tennis, padel, and pickleball clubs across Queensland. No sorting, no labels — just drop them in.
Second Serve collects full bins and sorts by ball type — tennis, padel, and pickleball each go through a different processing stream. Collection is free for clubs.
Processed balls are turned into Dead Ball™ products — floor tiles, garden mulch, sport surfaces, and more. Every ball gets a second life instead of 500 years in the ground.
Second Serve currently operates bins at clubs across Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and the Sunshine Coast, with regional expansion underway for 2026. Use the interactive map to find your nearest drop-off.
If your club doesn't have a bin yet, it takes less than five minutes to request one. Installation is free and we handle everything from there.
Find your nearest bin →Every collected ball is cleaned, sorted, and processed into Dead Ball™ — Second Serve's recycled product range. The rubber and felt that make tennis balls impossible to recycle through standard channels are exactly what make them useful as a raw material for impact-absorbing surfaces.
Products are sold commercially and through retail. Revenue from Dead Ball™ funds the Queensland collection network — so the more clubs join, the more sustainable the whole system becomes.
All brands and conditions accepted. Flat, bald, and completely dead — all fine. Do not include wet or heavily muddy balls if possible.
Chemically identical to tennis balls. Same collection process. All brands accepted — depressurised and dead balls are exactly what we want.
Cracked, split, or shattered balls all accepted. Pickleball plastic goes through a separate processing stream — don't worry about mixing them in the bin.
If your Queensland tennis, padel, or pickleball club generates dead balls — which every club does — you qualify for a Second Serve bin. Setup is free, collection is free, and your members get a simple way to do the right thing with their dead balls.
Collection is triggered when a bin is full, not on a fixed schedule. Most active clubs are collected every 4–8 weeks. Second Serve monitors fill levels remotely and arranges collection before overflow — no chasing required from club staff.
No. The bin, installation, collection, and Impact Certificates are all free for Queensland clubs. Second Serve's revenue comes from Dead Ball™ product sales — clubs provide the raw material, we handle everything else.
Any condition. Flat, bald, split, or cracked — all accepted. The worse the ball, the more we want it. The only thing to avoid is heavily wet or muddy balls, which can cause processing delays. Otherwise, if it's dead, drop it in.
Dead balls at your club? Get a Second Serve recycling bin — free for Queensland clubs.
Get a bin