OGDEN, Utah — Plastics play an enormous and growing role in our world, but one Weber State University student is finding ways to keep them out of landfills and on the pickleball court instead.
According to mechanical engineering student Parker Libby, pickleball's player base has grown by 300% in just the last three years as the sport has exploded in popularity across Utah and beyond.
But with that growth comes a surprising environmental cost.
“Around 500 million pickleballs are made each year,” Libby said. “That’s enough to fill about 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools. If we could use even 50 percent recycled plastic, we could save roughly 6,000 tons of plastic from going into landfills every year.”
That’s a small dent in the overall global problem — an estimated 380 million tons of plastic are produced annually, and only about 11 million tons are repurposed. The rest ends up in landfills or the environment.
Local players say they’re on board with the idea of making their favorite sport a little greener.
“I think it’s a terrific idea,” said Ogden player Jackson Carlson. “Knowing that something from your recycling bin could become a pickleball is just super cool.”
“It’s great to think that junk from your house could be turned into something useful for a sport,” added Daxton Carlson.
Libby is working alongside Weber State professor Rand Hurd to determine how much recycled plastic can be used while still producing tournament-quality pickleballs.
“We can use as much recycled plastic as we want when forming the pickleball,” he explained. “But if we use 100% recycled material, it might not bounce as well or last as long. So, we’re testing to find the sweet spot.”
Libby is currently developing a mold and production process that will allow him to test pickleballs made with varying amounts of recycled material, with hopes of having a usable product before graduation.
