LTA encourages tennis fans to Rally for Tomorrow across 2025 grass court season
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On World Environment Day, and as the grass court season gets underway, the LTA is encouraging fans and the wider tennis community to rally together and #BeatPlasticPollution.
To deliver our vision of Tennis Opened Up and ensure that tennis and the places it is played are accessible and thriving for generations to come, it’s vital that everyone rallies together to protect the sport and the places we play.
This is important for tennis at all levels, from grand slams to local park sessions. A greater number of tennis venues than ever are at risk of regular and more severe flooding, while more extreme temperatures are increasingly impacting delivery of events, and the wellbeing of players who participate at them.
The LTA’s Environmental Sustainability Plan is focused on securing a lasting future for tennis in Britain, using the power of tennis to change attitudes towards sustainability and bring about positive change.
Grass Court Season
The LTA Grass Court Season attracts thousands of fans and at this year’s events, a range of initiatives are helping to reduce environmental impact. This includes:
- Using Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) fuel to power temporary generators on-site, which results in 90% less emissions than standard fuels
- All tournament fleet vehicles used across the LTA grass court events are hybrid and nearly 50% are fully electric models, thanks to a partnership with Lexus
- Donating more than two tonnes of leftover food to local food charities to reduce food waste, as Ben Shelton saw last year at the HSBC Championships.
- Water refill stations for spectators, players and officials to fill their water bottles for free and remove over 220,000 single use plastic bottles, thanks to a partnership with BRITA
- Carbon labelling on menus around sites, identifying low carbon options.
Play Your Part
Whilst everyone in British tennis must pull together to play their part, as a fan and spectator at our events there are some things you can do which can make a big difference:
- Use your own reusable bottle to fill up at one of BRITA’s refill stations
- Choose a low carbon option from one of the menus onsite
- Use the right bin for your waste
- Use public transport to travel to and from events
- Return your reusable cup if you’ve had a drink
Tennis Ball Recycling!
Most tennis balls will only be played with for 4-6 hours on court, but each ball can take up to 300 years to degrade in landfill. The LTA has been working with providers to roll out tennis ball recycling at venues across Great Britain to ensure that balls are recycled for use in other products.
At the Lexus Nottingham Open this year we are encouraging fans to bring along their old tennis and padel balls to be recycled onsite.
Used balls from the events will also be resold.
To find out more about our recommended ball recycling services, check out the venue support toolkit.
