Racquet sport balls are recyclable. The only thing missing was a system.
Deadball bins are placed at partner clubs across Queensland. Players deposit dead, cracked, or unusable balls when they'd otherwise end up in the general waste bin. Collection is passive — no behaviour change required beyond dropping the ball in.
Collected balls are sorted by material type at our processing facility. Polypropylene pickleballs (PP5), rubber padel and tennis cores, and felt tennis ball casings are separated and processed through different downstream pathways. Mixed contamination is minimal — racquet sport balls are single-material by design.
PP5 pickleballs are cleaned, granulated, and converted into recycled resin feedstock. This material meets the specification required for injection moulding — no blending with virgin plastic required. Processing happens locally in Queensland, keeping the supply chain short and the carbon footprint low.
The recycled PP5 feedstock is injection-moulded into Dead Ball™ — a standard 40mm recreational pickleball made entirely from reclaimed material. The ball re-enters the game. When it reaches end of life, it goes back in the bin and the loop starts again.