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:
Günther van de Rijt MSc, MBA. Has more than 25 years of experience in Product Development, Procurement and Supply Chain. Before founding his own company, he worked in various countries in senior leadership and executive roles for multiple companies as Océ, Philips Healthcare, Ista, Sartorius. Having started his career in Product Development, he later switched to Procurement and Operations to leverage collaborative models in developing high-performing products and successfully building resilient and sustainable supply chains.
At Renewaball, he is driving product development and the supply chain.
Hélène Hoogeboom Msc 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\.
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 was director of Call for Action co-operative - an online agency. 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.
