California teenagers set world record by collecting 22,000 sports balls
Thirteen students gathered tennis and pickleballs in 24 hours to promote recycling through their environmental initiative, Another Bounce.
Thirteen teenagers in California collected 22,000 discarded tennis and pickleballs in 24 hours at Reed Park in Santa Monica on September 19, 2026, according to the Times of India. The group set a Guinness World Record for the most sports balls collected for recycling in a single day.
The students, representing five local high schools, gathered approximately 1,213 kg of used equipment. The collection was part of Another Bounce, a youth-led initiative operating under the US-based environmental nonprofit Habits of Waste.
The collected items were sent to Ridwell, a waste collection and recycling company, for specialist processing. This method aims to recover materials for use in manufactured goods and sports-court surfaces instead of sending them to landfills.
The initiative began in February 2026, when student-athletes started placing collection bins at schools and tennis clubs across the Los Angeles area. The group is now advocating for better waste management policies.
The teenagers have requested that local authorities in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and Malibu implement new rules for sports-ball disposal. In August 2026, Malibu officials indicated they would support the students' ideas and asked for a formal proposal regarding sports-ball waste.
The students are also calling on manufacturers to create take-back programmes so customers can return used equipment for recycling.