The Waccamaw Regional Tennis Center at Stables Park has quietly joined a growing environmental movement — recycling used tennis balls to keep them out of local landfills and waterways.
Through a partnership with RecycleBalls, a national nonprofit that collects and repurposes tennis balls, the center has recycled nearly 15,000 used balls since launching its program about three years ago. The initiative began as a student-led project and has continued thanks to the generosity of Mark Hawn, a frequent player at the center, who now sponsors the program with an annual $600 contribution.
“It just felt like a good use of my money,” Hawn said. “Tennis balls are basically made to last forever — like nuclear waste, in terms of how long they stay around. If you don’t recycle them, they end up in our lakes, rivers and beaches. Helping fund a program that prevents that and benefits the community at the same time just makes sense.”
While tennis balls might linger forever, their useful life on the courts is incredibly short.
“A can of tennis balls really only lasts one or two matches for advanced players. After that, they start losing pressure and the felt wears down,” said David Bromberg, head tennis pro at the Waccamaw Regional Tennis Center. “Between members and our teaching programs, that’s a lot of tennis balls. Without this recycling program, most would eventually just end up in the trash.”
With around 160 members and constant league and lesson play, the center goes through thousands of balls each year. As a result, the recycling program has quickly become an important part of operations at the busy county-owned facility.
Instead of ending up in landfills, those “dead” balls are boxed up and shipped to RecycleBalls, where they’re given new life as materials for playground surfaces, horse stable flooring, walking paths and more.
Bromberg said the program began when a local high school student, Stephanie Davis, took on tennis ball recycling as a project. “She was the one who really got it going,” he said. “When she went off to school, we needed someone to keep it going, and Mark was more than happy to sponsor it.”
RecycleBalls, based in Vermont, has collected and recycled more than 20 million tennis balls nationwide since its founding in 2017. The nonprofit works with tennis clubs, schools and parks around the country to turn used balls into new products through its patented Green Gold™ process.
Bromberg said it only takes him about 30 minutes a week to pack and ship the balls, but the environmental benefit is huge. “It’s not time-consuming at all,” he said. “And when you think about how much waste we’re diverting, it’s worth every minute.”
For Hawn, supporting the recycling program is also a way to give back to a place he enjoys.
“This is one of the best public facilities in the state,” he said. “My wife Sally and I both appreciate what the county has done here, and we’re happy to support programs that make it even better.”
The Waccamaw Regional Tennis Center is located at Stables Park in the Litchfield community and is operated by Georgetown County Parks and Recreation. For more information about RecycleBalls or to learn how to start a recycling program, visit www.recycleballs.org.
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