Environmental sustainability
What impact does your club have on the environment?
In 2022 we at the LTA published our Environmental Sustainability Plan, setting out our ambition to secure a lasting future for tennis in Britain through positive action on climate change and leadership in sustainability.
We want to support the wider tennis community to be more sustainable, in our role as national governing body for tennis in Britain. In doing so we hope to effectively support tennis in Britain in the face of rising energy costs, and changes to the environment.
Does environmental sustainability feature in your overall club strategy or do you regularly discuss sustainability at your management committee meetings?
If not, why not start by stating your club’s position on environmental sustainability publicly. We have a pulled together a statement template as a starter, so please feel free to adopt, adapt and make it your own!
Download statement template
Now you’ve got a policy statement, why not turn this into action.
We’ve created an Environmental Sustainability Action Plan, packed full of ideas you can implement. Just like the policy template, make the plan your own, remove actions, adapt them or create your own.
The UK Government's Simpler Recycling legislation comes into effect 31/3/25 and introduces new waste separation and collection requirements for businesses, impacting operations as follows:
Key Requirements
Waste Separation: Businesses must separate waste into dry recyclables (glass, paper, plastics, metals), food waste, and non-recyclable waste. This is a legal requirement.
Timeline
- March 2025: Businesses with 10+ employees must comply.
- March 2027: All businesses, including smaller ones, must adhere.
Impacts
- Increased Costs: Additional bins, staff training, and waste collection fees.
- Landfill Tax: Higher taxes from April 2025 will penalize non-recyclable waste.
- Fines: Non-compliance may result in penalties.
Benefits
- Reputation Boost: Shows commitment to sustainability.
- Environmental Impact: Contributes to a circular economy.
We recommend that you discuss this legislation with your current waste provider, but the LTA Buying Group are also on hand to talk to any venue (whether you are an existing customer or not) about how this will impact you.
Please send any questions over to support@wasteandwashroom.com and our team will be on hand to help out.
Reducing energy consumption is now a priority for most organisations, including sports clubs and venues. The below guidance has been produced in conjunction with Carbon Control Limited to help venues better procure their energy and understand energy management, so they can make strategic changes and make a sustainable difference.
Tap or click on the below image to open the guide:
Through the LTA Buying Group, we have partnered with Zellar, the digital sustainability coach, to help tennis venues improve their environmental performance.
Just like a great coach helps refine technique, build confidence, and unlock potential on the court, Zellar provides expert guidance to help clubs take control of their sustainability journey—step by step.
Why Join Zellar?
Zellar helps clubs:
- Track and Reduce Emissions - Understand your club’s carbon footprint and take action to reduce it.
- Cut Costs - Reduce energy use by up to 33% and unlock estimated savings of £4,100 per year.
- Simplify Compliance & Reporting - Stay ahead of sustainability regulations with automated reporting tools.
- Get Access to Funding & Green Networks - Receive regular alerts on local funding opportunities and connect with other clubs leading the way.
- Engage Members & Sponsors - Show your club’s sustainability efforts to members, sponsors, and the wider community.
- Invest in the Future - Over £500,000 has already been invested in energy-saving technologies like solar panels and EV charging units through Zellar.
- Prove Your Progress - Every action is recorded at the site level and fed into your club’s sustainability Score, providing a clear picture of your impact.
Ready to Get Started?
Take a tour of the Zellar platform here:
Need another reason to join? LTA Buying Group partner clubs can access an exclusive 10% discount on an annual Zellar licence.
Over 70 tennis and sports clubs have already joined Zellar’s growing community of 1,000+ UK organisations. Together, they’ve made 230 operational changes and completed 350 energy checks, leading to significant cost savings.
If you'd like to implement Zellar at your venue, you can sign up here.
Are you at risk of flooding? Not sure?
Use these templates to help find out whether your facilities could be at risk of flooding and what to do in the event of a flood.
If facilities are at risk, these templates could help you develop a flood plan and highlight other strategies that will help reduce the impact of flooding.
The LTA are working in partnership with GMG, specialists in establishing buying-groups within the sports sector, to harness the collective purchasing power of the LTA Registered Venues to leverage significant discounts across a wide range of goods and services used by tennis clubs.
They can help you in specific areas such as with your electricity & gas (mains and LPG), solar installations, and you refuse collection.
Visit our LTA Buying Group website below for further information:
LTA Pledgeball Leagues are back for 2025
After running two LTA x Pledgeball leagues in 2023 and 2024were back in 2025 and inviting the tennis community once again unite in acting, demonstrating the significant impact we can have together.
By getting involved and encouraging your membership to do the same, you have the chance to win prizes for your venue.
If you’re completely new to LTA Pledgeball Leagues, here’s an overview:
What is Pledgeball?
Pledgeball, are a research-backed charity that engages sports fans, players, and club members on environmental sustainability in a very accessible and easy way: individuals submit pledges on behalf of their club via an online platform.
The more people who pledge in support of the venue, the higher the venue then climbs up the LTA Pledgeball League Table and the more chances you and your members have of winning prizes.
Each pledge will count towards a combined emissions saving figure, so you’ll be able to see the collective impact you will have as a community.
- Pledges are simple, everyday actions that individuals can take to reduce their carbon footprint.
- The pledges are accumulated into an overall club CO2 equivalent savings figure and fed into a league ladder, which allows comparison and introduces an element of healthy competition.
Prizes
This year we are spreading the prizes amongst the top three venues in each monthly league
- 1st place venue will receive a £250 grant for a sustainability project at your venue
- 2nd Place venue will receive £150 grant for a sustainability project at your venue
- 3rd place venue will receive £100 grant for a sustainability project at your venue
This could be anything that has a positive impact on the environment. Such as:
- Installing water-saving devices to your clubhouse taps and showers
- Installing a court side water fountain
- Switching to energy-efficient lighting in your clubhouse
- Installing a bike rack to support sustainable travel to your venue
- Supporting biodiversity through installing a bug hotel, or planting wildflowers or pollinator-friendly plants and flowers
- or we would love to hear your own ideas too….
We will also run a prize draw for all participating pledgers for a pair of tickets to the WTA 500 event held at The Queen’s Club in 2026 season.
We're launching on June 1st 2025 to coincide with the start of the grass court season. We'll be running four rounds, on the following dates:
- Round 1 – 1st June to 30th June 2025
- Round 2 – 1st July 2025 to 31st July 2025
- Round 3 – 1st August 2025 to 31st August 2025
- Round 4 – 1st September 2025 to 30th September 2025
We will start populating this section with venue resources and updates ahead of the first league in June. Watch this space!
As a sport, we throw away an estimated fifteen million tennis balls each year in GB. Most 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.
We have been looking at solutions to this problem and following successful pilots we would like you to meet our LTA recommended ball recycling services - Circularball and DYUCE.
Circularball
Circularball, a hubba initiative, recycle the entire ball (cloth and rubber) back into new circular products, right here in the UK.
How it works
Sign up to Circularball and receive a collection bin and empty bags made from recycled plastic which you’ll use to line the bin (one at a time). The 110-litre bin holds roughly 425 balls, and it always stays at your site. When 1 or 6 bags are full you can contact us by phone, email, scan the QR code on the bin, or through our online portal to arrange a collection.
They’ll let you know when they’re coming and send you tracking info if you need it too. On collection they will deliver new empty bags, so you can start over again. From here, your balls will start their circular journey and be made into new products like flooring tiles and sound insulation.
DYUCE
Tennis and padel ball rubber is infinitely recyclable, and DYUCE process all balls, in any condition right here in the UK. The recycled rubber is used again in various circular applications including rubber soles for athletic footwear.
How it works
DYUCE provides FREE thoughtfully designed collection pods to venues that subscribe. Each collection pod holds 250 balls.
There is a £10 a month rolling subscription to cover the administration, logistics and recycling costs. When the collection bin is full, venues can simply scan a QR at the base of the bin to prompt a next day collection. There is a fee of £15 per box of 250 balls. Email the DYUCE team on info@dyuce.com to find out more or visit their website via the link below.
We understand that many venues may have schemes in place that donate used balls to local charities, schools, dog homes etc. but these balls still ultimately end up in landfill.
DYUCE is circular, collecting used balls and recycles the rubber to make other products and stop millions of balls from entering landfill.
It has been a hit with our players and members (over 2000, young and old) and we are definitely seeing less balls lying around the club and in regular bins. We were featured on the "So Glos" website recently, DYUCE fits our wider environmental and sustainability strategy where we have aligned with Cheltenham Borough Council and aim to be net zero by 2030. Would definitely recommend to other clubs, it's very visual, very easy and very worthwhile, we have 2 units and could probably do with a 3rd!
Below you'll find some useful resources and templates to help your club be more enviromentally sustainable:
Introduction to Saving Energy - Guidance and Tips for Venues
Explore the below case studies to see how other clubs have followed our advice on environmental sustainability:
- Hoole Tennis Club - 'How Hoole is making a difference in the community with a green agenda'
- Halton Tennis Club - 'The phenomenal success of Halton Project Zero'
- East Glos Club - 'Rallying for a greener future'
- Tennis Wales - 'Five Welsh clubs smashing sustainability'
Share your sustainability highlight
Please complete the fields below to submit your 'Sustainable Tennis Highlight', which will be showcased in our highlights reel.
We hope that celebrating your story will encourage and provide inspiration for other venues to take action to reduce their impact on the environment.
British Association for Sustainable Sport
BASIS (the British Association for Sustainable Sport) has provided expert help to sports clubs, venues, and governing bodies for over a decade – helping you to understand your impact, set targets and implement processes to improve your environmental performance.
Check out their website for all the latest news, guidance, resources, events and training on everything Sustainable Sport:
Sport England Sustainable Facilities
For guidance on embedding environmental sustainability into your facility development plans check out Sport England’s Sustainability pages which include a useful checklist, design guidance and a range of case studies from a variety of sports.
Buddle - Environmental Sustainability
Webinars
Below you can browse through some useful webinars with advice on environmental sustainability.
Share your sustainability highlight
We want to hear your venues' Sustainable Tennis Highlight! Please complete the fields below to submit your story which will be showcased in our highlights reel.
We hope that celebrating your story will encourage and provide inspiration for other venues to take action to reduce their impact on the environment.