Yellow balls Program (Operation Balles Jaunes) of the French Tennis Federation.

 

Comments by  D. COHEN  (November  22nd, 2012)

 

Operation Balles Jaunes is an environmental, educational and social initiative carried by French Tennis Federation towards its 36 leagues, 85 departmental committees, 8300 clubs affiliated to the FFT and 1.1 million licensees.14 million tennis balls are used each and every year in France.With this in mind, the French Tennis Federation launched Operation Balles Jaunes in 2008, with the support of the company Coved. The objective of this action is to collect the used balls in clubs and recycle them.

Balls which have reached the end of their playable life are ground down into rubber granulate and added to the resins used to make durable sports surfaces.

These sport fields are offered by the regional leagues, through sponsorships, local social or educational structures.The equation is simple: 40 000 balls collected can produce 100 square meters of a durable and safe multi-purpose surface.

It has, for its third edition, in 2011, collected 900,000 used tennis balls with 23 participating leagues. In 2010, 600 000 balls had been collected and 150 000 in the 2009 edition. In 2012, the French Tennis Federation reports that it expects to collect an estimated 1.1 million tennis balls!

Throughout this initiative, four sports grounds have been made to date and available to social associations, while eleven other surfaces are planned.As the managers of FFT say, this allows the licensees to participate in an action that is not only environmental, but also supportive.Yellow Ball Program considers the three pillars of sustainable development: collecting of used balls reflects the respect for environment, recycling is the economic dimension of the program, while sponsorship of associations or local structures fulfills a genuine solidarity and social role.

Then, if you don’t know how to get rid of your tennis balls, french tennis federation can help you !

 

Comments by  D. COHEN 

(November 22nd, 2012)