The Melbourne project turning used tennis balls into shoes

Every day in Australia fresh cans pop open, as the nation's long love affair with the game of tennis rolls on.

But any keen player or watcher will tell you, these balls quickly lose their bounce and are no longer game-worthy.

"They don't have a very long-life span," tennis fan Lilian Xu said.

"I noticed when I was younger when playing competitions, every new tennis game you would get a new can of tennis balls.

"A new can every single time, and then they just get thrown out."

According to Tennis Australia, more than 1.4 million people play the game nation-wide regularly.

So, from amateur serve-volleyer enjoying an early morning hit, to a baseline professional, the ball count quickly adds up.

Just ask Ian Robson, the chief executive at Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, which proudly claims to be the "spiritual home" of Australian tennis, about his club's ball-burn rate.

"It would be in the tens of thousands across the year, we have a lot of programs, coaching, competitions, club championships," he said.

"And our members are very precise about the ball to use. A different ball on the grass to the clay."

Used balls might end up in backyard cricket games and dogs' jaws for a while, but most — even if they find a short-term second use — end in landfill.

It is estimated 10 million tennis balls a year end up in the tip across Australia.

But it doesn't have to be that way — if Lilian Xu's idea gains traction.

Shoes with bounce

In 2024, while at university in Melbourne and involved in a entrepreneurship program, Ms Xu was asked to think of an issue that needed a solution.

"As someone who has worked at eight Australian Opens, I was very aware of the problem, so that was the key issue I wanted to delve into," she said.

The idea involves collecting used balls, shredding those balls and turning the material into rubber shoe soles.

"We have bins at clubs that we set up and people chuck the balls in there," she said.

Thirty Victorian tennis clubs are now involved with the initiative, including Kooyong Lawn and Tennis Club.

"It is a really easy, natural fit for us," Mr Robson said.

"This is a recurring problem, or a recurring opportunity, because we continue to use balls all the time.

"And if this ends up being on the soles of our shoes, what a practical outcome."

Sadly though, Ms Xu said no one will be wearing recycled tennis ball shoes at Rod Laver anytime soon.

"We're predominantly working with brands making shoes for more casual wear. Nothing high performance.

"Different types of shoes require different types of soles, so you need different formulas and we are starting with simple casual wear to start with."

Rolling onto bigger balls

Lilian Xu's company, Ludis, has been given a $50,000 grant by Sustainability Victoria to help grow the program.

"We love our sport in Australia, but that sport doesn't come without an impact," Sustainability Victoria's chief executive Matt Genever said.

"Innovations like this are what we need to see in Victoria. We generate 14 million tonnes of material and 4.5 [million] of that goes to landfill every year.

"And about 1,000 tonnes of sporting equipment goes to landfill every year."

A lot of that includes other kinds of soccer, footy and rugby balls made of rubber, felt and leather.

Such materials, Lilian Xu said, could also become future footwear.

"It is such a huge issue. This is not just a problem in tennis, but in all sports," she said.

"Tennis just made sense for me because it is the sport I am closest to.

"Hopefully [we're] tackling it one sport at a time."

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