From Sustainaball to Renewaball®
In spring, 2020, Renewaball made the first tennis ball in which used tennis balls were processed.
They were then given as a promotional gift by ABN AMRO Bank to commercial contacts and relationships attending the WTT Rotterdam Ahoy tournament - nowadays called the ABN AMRO Open.
Behind that first ball was an important innovation: separating a used tennis ball into clean and separate partitions of felt and rubber. Until then, nobody had succeeded in this.
This innovation by Renewaball opened the door to the first recyclable tennis ball. It was an important breakthrough for sustainability everywhere, more so when you realise the little known but pretty huge eco-footprint of a tennis/padel ball and the vast amounts in which they are produced.
This first ball was mainly a proof of concept: "Can a tennis ball be made from tennis balls at all?"
Several significant improvements in the production process have led us to the current Renewaball. The Renewaball tennis ball is now ITF approved. Additionally, we introduced the first circular padel ball, which is IPF approved.
Founders
From left to right:
Marc Rouffaer Has a 10-year entrepreneurial experience in the publishing industry before becoming an (online) marketing consultant, in 1994.
Previously worked at TBWA\ as a managing director/partner, and is chairman of Call for Action co-operative - an online agency. Together with Eric Petersen over the last 10 years, he was involved in a number of highly innovative waste recycling and upcycling projects. At Renewaball, he occupies with marketing/sales and business development.
Hélène Hoogeboom Worked at TBWA\ Worldwide for over 27 years, mainly in CRM and data where she became a board member/partner.
In recent years she worked at tcc global as global lead sustainability and sr. consultant innovation, where she developed the sustainable strategy and helped mature several sustainable product ranges and global brands. She is managing director of Renewaball, and is particularly involved in international partnerships, international brand development, finance and day-to-day business. Hélène and Marc worked together for 7 years at TBWA\.
Eric Petersen Has a background in development, innovation, and operations.
Over the last 30 years he made a career in various management positions and is a Cradle to Cradle expert, enthusiastically taking you onto a journey from waste to raw materials to a new product. He has worked for innovation leaders such as Van Gansewinkel and Van Scherpenzeel Groep, where the key question has always been: how to responsibly deal with waste flows while keeping an eye on profit? Within Renewaball, he is responsible for product development, logistics and innovation.
