HEAD is working on more sustainable tennis racquets and pickleball paddles

Prototypes are made with bio-circular carbon fibers

HEAD is showing a vision of a more sustainable future for racquet sports with the development of prototype tennis racquets and pickleball paddles that amongst other materials, contain Toray’s 100% bio-circular carbon fibers^[1] (using the mass balance approach^[2]) instead of usual carbon fibers.

Toray’s bio-circular carbon fibers are created with the waste and residues of biological origin from agriculture, forestry and related industries from the start of the supply chain which – instead of being sent to landfill or otherwise taken out of the economy – are reused, used, or recycled. This highly innovative and potentially game-changing collaboration with Toray and its subsidiary bio-circular carbon fibers producer, Toray Carbon Fibers Europe, is part of HEAD’s ReThink project, with the goal of maximising sustainability in its processes, from manufacturing to shipping.

As an environmentally responsibly oriented sporting goods manufacturer, HEAD recognizes there is much more to be done to reduce harmful emissions and protect biodiversity. With a firm commitment to maintaining high performance while reducing the environmental impact, HEAD’s research and development team has been encouraged by the playability of these state-of-the-art prototypes.

The tennis racquet and pickleball paddle prototypes will be displayed at the Toray booth at the JEC World 2024, an international composites fair which will be held in Paris from March 5-7. The exciting collaboration between HEAD and Toray will continue, with the companies to explore how these prototypes could be developed further, with a view to HEAD potentially releasing more sustainable racquets and paddles in the future.

[1] Bio-circular carbon fibers use the mass balance approach.

[2] A mass balance approach is one in which raw materials with certain characteristics (an example being biomass-derived) are mixed with other raw materials (such as petroleum-derived ones) in the processing and distribution process, from raw materials through to finished products. Characteristics are assigned to part of a product in line with the input proportions of raw materials with those characteristics.