Tennis is a very elite sports. Expensive club fees, expensive training. Expensive gear. It is not too far-fetched that my favourite sports is inherently unsustainably. However, my environmentalist heart was too afraid to research that — and potentially make my feeling a fact.
Then, one day, I heard a girl on the court asking how many tennis balls were used at last year’s Wimbledon tournament. Her team had to guess. 10.000, 20.000, … TOO LOW! 55.000. Ufff. 55.000 balls means 55.000 units of waste. I was shocked (and had to verify this in disbelief).
For the Australian Open, it looks a bit better: Some sources say 48.000 balls. During the French Open competition days, 70.000 balls are used and at the US Open, it is 100.000 balls! The four Grand Slams are massive ball eaters.
These disastrous numbers made me risk a deep dive: Was I as a tennis player was promoting an inherently unsustainable thing?
Turns out I was right. Partly.
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Note from the sideline: The term ‘sustainability’ is very complex.
Let’s quote its most famous definition from the 1987 UN ‘Our Common Future’ report: sustainable action “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Let’s focus on climate- (emissions), resource- (balls), role-model-(players) aspects here.
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💢 The bad
# 1 No recycling of tennis balls on a grand scale
Recycling tennis balls is barely possible due to their material characteristics: The nylon-wool mixture glued on rubber makes the balls indestructible on court — and also makes them indecomposable off court.
Nearly 330 million tennis balls are produced globally each year and one ball needs 400 years to fully decompose. That’s why most of the old balls end up in landfills.
# 2 Hello, are there any role models?
Since Netflix’s ‘Break Point’ everyone knows that the average lifestyle of a tennis pro is a lot about fashion, brands, and fancy events.
Players who can afford it, like Roger Federer or Angelique Kerber usually travel by private jet to the tournaments all over the world. Tennis is not a sport where major players are known to raise attention for climate crisis.
# 3 The overarching climate strategy is very vague
At the highest organizational level of tennis — the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the big rule-maker of international tennis— there is no solid climate strategy in place. (At least, none is public.)
My questions would be how much CO2-equivalents the activities of the roof organization of tennis are causing, how much that is per professional person playing, and which measures will be taken for emission reduction.
What I found was a lame statement on the ITF website that at no determined point of time in the future, it will align its “sustainability objectives with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Sports for Climate Action Framework (SCAF) and the International Olympic Committee’s sustainability strategy.” Humm…
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🌱 The good
The good news is basically that while we’re lagging, we are at least on the way!
# 1 First ideas for ball recycling on the way
At the big Grand Slam tournaments, used balls are sold to the visitors (at least!). Also, the ITF launched a technical working group to assess the feasibility of designing a fully recyclable ball.
Some brands already launched more sustainable products, for example, Wilson launched the Triniti series and claims these balls coming in sustainable packaging last four times longer than regular balls.
However, progress is slow as the first thoughts on the necessity of recycling tennis balls were already reported 20 years ago.
# 2 Yay, found some role models (this was hard research!)
The German tennis professional Jan-Lennard Struff is known for speaking up for the climate.
In an interview, he said: “(…) it’s important to stand up for the environment, and I’ve become aware of that more and more in the last two to three years because it interests me and you can get involved. Marcus Daniell, a New Zealand tennis player, has set up an organization to encourage athletes to get involved in this issue. And I’m happy to support that, too.”
# 3 ATP is going strong on emission reporting and strategy
In contrast to the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), the male Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) had its first carbon audit in 2019 and also elaborated a high-level sustainability strategy.
In 2021, the ATP signed the United Nations Sports for Climate Action Framework that includes a 50% emission reduction target for 2030 and a net zero target for 2040.
Also, the ATP has teamed up with Infosys to launch a Carbon Tracker, enabling players to track and offset their carbon emissions while traveling to participate in tournaments. Women in tennis, your turn!
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Tennis and sustainability: The good in the bad
The status of sustainability in tennis is not very good. The topic was overlooked for quite some time, which I find odd.
People can tell which brands are more and less ethical — but are clueless about the connection between sustainability and sports, one of the biggest brand- and sponsoring playgrounds in the world?! Well…
The good news is: Awareness and action are slowly increasing in tennis.
Tennis is so important for sustainability as it has enormous societal influence. It creates role models for whole generations and serves as the basis for friendships. Lots of events and conversations take place on and next to the tennis courts. Investment decisions are made there as well.
Tennis is impactful. Where there is impact, there is a lever for action! Same goes for the sports companies and brands around it.
As Forbes puts it: “In comparison to other industries, […] in sports, the impact of supply chain and sustainability issues is less widely-known. That’s why now is the time for sports leaders and organisations to act, to find a solution to the problem, and to fix their supply chains in pursuit of achieving sustainability and meeting ESG goals.”
And now, folks, we need to serve some aces for the climate! ♻️💚
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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From The Good Men Project on Medium
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