Biobased tennis balls offer a sustainable spin

In the UK, Central Saint Martins graduate Noé Chouraqui has created Point, a 3D-printed tennis ball made from biobased and recyclable materials. Conventional tennis balls contain synthetic rubber and take up to 400 years to break down in the environment. According to Chouraqui, over 300 million tennis balls are produced annually. Most end up in landfills.

His Point ball is made using PLA-HR, a high-resilience, polylactic acid filament made from corn starch that easily breaks down in industrial composters. Testing has also found that Point balls behave similarly to conventional tennis balls in terms of aerodynamics, bounce, and durability.