After all — a gorgeous, scenic course just can’t exist without a gorgeous and scenic landscape.
Another thing that disc golf relies on??
Plastic.
From the moment you pick up your first disc—whether it’s a shiny new driver or a beat-up midrange from the used rack—you’re stepping into a world that relies on plastic production.
And at Trash Panda, we believe that the responsibility to the future of our sport starts with the discs we put in our hands.
The good thing is that now more than ever - with almost every major manufacturer making discs from sustainable materials - it’s realistic to have a championship-level bag containing exclusively sustainable discs.
(100% recycled plastic ready to be turned into disc golf discs)
And to make that even easier for you to do, we’ve created this guide to highlight the most sustainable disc golf discs on the market (note: this is an ever-evolving list — so we'll do our best to keep it up to date.).
For the purposes of this blog, we’ve mostly focused on the contents of the discs themselves — although there are many other things that disc golf manufacturers can do outside of this list to be sustainable (energy efficiency, reducing waste, or even becoming a Certified B Corp).
We’ve broken it down into 3 categories:
- Recycled Plastic
- Discs made from recycled plastic from outside of the sport or re-ground defects from the manufacturer themself. (You’ll notice that the latter represents the vast majority of these.)
- Bioplastic
- Plastic made from renewable biological sources, such as plants, rather than from petroleum, which is a non-renewable resource.
- Other
- This category is a catch-all for everything else. From discs that use wood pulp to discs made from recycled rubber.
- This section highlights companies whose core focus is sustainability and environmental responsibility.
So without further ado, here’s a list of sustainable plastic options from disc golf manufacturers of all shapes and sizes. Whenever possible, the description provided is from the manufacturer themselves.
Recycled Plastic
This category represents discs that contain recycled plastic in any amount.
It’s by far the most common type of sustainable disc golf disc on the market, and something that all manufacturers are capable of doing.
There are 2 distinct ways of making discs from recycled plastic:
1. Disc regrind: taking defects from disc manufacturing, grinding them up, and reprocessing them into more discs 👇
(Discs going into a grinder to be recycled)
This represents most of the examples below.
Not only is it a great thing to do in terms of sustainability — it also makes sense from a business perspective. Otherwise, perfectly good, usable plastic ends up in the landfill creating the need to purchase even more virgin plastic to create discs.
In the past 3 years, there has been an explosion of manufacturers recycling their own plastic, which is huge for our industry.
2. External sources: using recycled plastic from outside of disc golf.
This is plastic that wasn’t originally created for making discs. Think phone cases or cattle tags.
Everyday post-industrial and post-consumer plastic ends up in landfills that could otherwise be used to make discs.
Yes, it's a much more difficult approach. But it also represents a massive step our sport could take to being a leader in sustainability globally.
The following plastic-types either contain disc regrind, or are made from recycled plastic from other industries:
Discraft — “Recycled ESP”
100% recycled ESP Plastic, which is one of Discraft's premium plastics.
“Every Discraft disc is subject to a hand inspection. Discs with molding flaws are separated and saved. Throughout our decades in business, we've accumulated a stockpile of discs waiting for new life. Rather than let them sit as waste, we found a solution that completes a full circle of use, effectively reducing our environmental footprint.”
Source: The Team Discraft Site
🎥: Our YouTube review of the plastic
Prodigy — “Reblend”
100% recycled 400, 500, 750, Special Blend, and ProFlex plastic
“ReBlend is Prodigy’s 100% recycled plastic blend. Made from reground discs that did not originally meet production standards, ReBlend reduces waste without compromising quality. ReBlend Premium plastic is a combination of upcycled 400, 500, 750, Special Blend, and ProFlex plastic, with a feel and flexibility similar to 500 plastic.“
Source: Prodigy's website
EV-7 — “OG Eco Blend”
100% Recycled plastic regrind from their production process.
“The OG Eco Blend is made from 100% recycled plastic regrind from our production process..“
Source: OG Eco Penrose Product Description
Latitude 64 — “Biogold”
Made at least partially from recycled Gold plastic (quantity unclear).
“BioGold plastic makes disc golf more sustainable. When production of premium plastics like Opto or Gold discs doesn’t come out to our high-quality standards they are mixed, melted down and combined to create BioGold. This reduces unnecessary waste and lowers disc golf’s carbon footprint. BioGold has great feel, grip and flight, and breaks in a bit faster.”
Source: Latitude 64 Plastic Guide
Innova — “EchoStar”
Made from at least 50% recycled Star plastic (exact quantity unclear).
“Discs once destined for the landfil are now given new life as our Echo Star Line. Made up of a blend of high-tech recycled plastic with a minimum of 50% pre-consumer waste,”
Source: Innova Disc Comparison
MVP — R2 Neutron
Made at least partially from recycled Neutron plastic (quantity unclear).
"Premium look and feel of MVP Neutron
Recycled gray through black swirls
Same great durability as MVP Neutron
Eco-conscious recycled materials"
Source: MVP’s website
🎥: Our YouTube review of the plastic
Dynamic Discs — “Biofuzion”
Made at least partially from recycled Lucid or Fuzion plastic (quantity unclear).
“BioFuzion plastic is created in an effort to make disc golf more sustainable for the environment while still producing some of the highest quality discs on the market. When our production of Lucid or Fuzion discs doesn’t come out to our high-quality standards, they are melted down and combined to create our BioFuzion plastic. This reduces unnecessary waste and lowers disc golf’s carbon footprint.”
Source: Dynamic Discs Plastic Guide
Westside — “Revive”
Made at least partially from recycled VIP or Tournament plastic (quantity unclear).
“Revive plastic is created in an effort to make disc golf more sustainable for the environment while still producing some of the highest quality discs on the market. When our production of VIP or Tournament discs doesn’t come out to our high-quality standards, they are melted down and combined to create our Revive plastic. This reduces unnecessary waste and lowers disc golf’s carbon footprint.”
Source: Dynamic Discs Plastic Guide.
Kastaplast — “Regrind”
Made at least partially from recycled Kastaplast plastic (quantity unclear).
At the time of writing this article, there is no information about Regrind on Kastaplast’s website. The following is from a product descriptions on JK Discs’ website:
“Regrind is when the run of discs did not meet Kastaplast specifications, so the discs are “regrinded” to re-use the plastic. We’ve also got some Berg’s in K3 Hard, and some stock replenishment. Check out a few of the new arrivals below!”
Source: JK Discs
AGL — All Discs
Made with 20-40% recycled plastic.
“Typically made with 20-40% recycled plastic. [ AGL also uses additives such as recycled rubber, hemp, glow material, recycled nylon, recycled acrylic polymer, recycled hi-flex polymer, and metal flake.]”
Source: AGL Discs Plastic Info
Ocean Discs — “Ocean Waste Pacific” and “Ocean Waste Marine”
Made from 60% "Marine waste recycled plastic"
“[Ocean Waste Pacific & Ocean Waste Marine plastics] are [made from] 60% waste recycled plastic collected from the ocean, like fishing nets, bottles, drums and other plastic marine waste materials”
Source: Ocean Discs’ website
Trash Panda — All Discs
Made from 100% recycled plastic.
Every disc that we have ever produced is made with 100% recycled plastic from other industries (medical, automotive, etc.) as well as our Disc Recycling Program.
As of June 2024, we have recycled over 28,307 lbs of plastic waste (and over 21,000 discs through our Disc Recycling Program).
Source: Our Impact
Bioplastic
Bioplastic disc golf discs are made from plastic that uses renewable biological sources (starch, cellulose, sugars, vegetable oils) rather than petroleum in the manufacturing process.
It’s a process that has yet to go mainstream in the industry — and has only been tested by a couple of brands so far. (At the time of this article, there are no bioplastic-based discs actively being produced that we know about.)
Clash Discs — “Planty”
Made with plastic that utilizes plant-derived oil in its production.
“Planty is a bio-based material crafted without the predominant use of conventional petroleum-derived components, setting it apart from ordinary plastic. [...] Planty is a novel biomaterial, entirely free from recycled content.”
Source: Clash's website
Latitude 64 — “Eco”
Made with plastic that utilizes plant-derived oil in its production.
“Eco is made from biobased plastic containing a majority of raw materials from renewable resources. Eco has a firm feel, a tacky grip and is perfect for that fast consistent release"
Source: Dynamic Discs' website
Other
These are discs that we’re unable to fit in any of the other categories due to a number of factors (like recycled rubber and “plastic compounds”).
For example, some disc manufacturers blend their plastics with other things such as wood pulp and hemp for three possible reasons:
- To reduce the amount of plastic needed to produce the disc
- To elevate the aesthetic of the disc
- To appeal to the desire for “natural” disc golf discs by including materials from… well… nature
It’s unclear how these additives affect the future recyclability of the discs, but we will update this article when we know more.
Bernoulli Discs — “Various plastics”
Made from “GRS Certified" recycled plastic, tree pulp plastic, and biodegradable plastic.
“Tree Pulp: This disc offers an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastics.
Biodegradable: Decomposes naturally in all environments and poses no threat to the environment or wildlife.
Recycled: Made entirely from GRS Recycled Plastic.”
Source: Bernoulli Sports' website
Elevation — “EcoFlex” “EcoSuperFlex” and “EcoFlop”
Made from up to 30% recycled rubber from medical industries or post-consumer tire rubber (exact quantity unclear).
“Ecoflex: Every 1,000 discs we produce prevents 10,000 rubber gloves that did not meet manufacturing standards from ending up in the world's landfills.
Ecoflop: every 10,000 discs we produce we get to take 130 used tires out of the world's landfills”
Source: Elevation’s website
Alfa Discs — “Various plastics”
Made from 80% recycled plastic and 20% Norwegian wood
In their words:
“With our new plastic, each disc is made from a unique blend of 80% recycled plastic and 20% premium Norwegian wood from the famous forests of Gudbrandsdalen” (note: there isn't any additional information about this on their website — which is why we used their recent Instagram post as the source)
Source: Alfa Discs' Instagram
Gateway — “Organic (OG)”
Made from recycled rubber and corn based biopolymer (quantity unclear).
“Organic runs are made using a combination of recycled rubber and a renewable resource (corn based bio-polymer) making an eco-friendly product.”
Source: Gateway’s Disc Golf Plastic & Blends page🎥: Our YouTube review of the plastic
A New Standard
This list would have been much shorter just a few years ago...
And to us, it makes one thing clear: caring about the planet is the new standard in disc golf.
Whether that means utilizing their own regrind to reduce waste, innovating with new sustainable plastic types, or even simply reducing their overall shipping footprint — we give massive props to any manufacturer making an effort to have our industry be easier on the planet.
We believe in a future where sustainable discs aren't just a niche option, but the new normal for our sport 🤘
Bonus Category:
The Most Sustainable Disc Golf Companies
There are a small group of companies in disc golf who stand apart from the rest in growing the sport sustainably.
In other words, sustainability isn’t just part of what they do, it’s at the very core of their existence.
AGL Discs
AGL has an environmentally-conscious approach to their discs.
On their homepage, they mention a few ways they’re committed to sustainability, including:
- Striving to be "The “Greenest" Disc Golf company”
- Making all of their discs with recycled plastic (quantity unclear)
- Partnering with organizations like Zero Waste Recycling, One Tree Planted, Tree-Nation, and Fill-It-Forward
- Being “willing to work and collaborate with other like-minded companies that believe in being environmentally sustainable, as well as growing this great sport”
Bernoulli Discs
Although Bernoulli is relatively new on the scene, sustainability is clearly their main focus.
They don’t make a single disc that isn’t billed as sustainable, and appear to be entering the contract-manufacturing space to help other companies achieve the same thing.
Not much is known about their sourcing, manufacturing process, or plans for the future — but we’re excited to see what’s next from them.
Ocean Discs
Ocean Discs entered the disc golf space with an ambitious goal: use ocean waste to create discs. And as we mentioned in our YouTube review of their plastic, this is no easy task.
With an expected launch date of October 1 2024, we're excited to learn more about their process and see them make some waves in our sport (pun absolutely intended).
In their words: "When you choose Ocean Discs, you're not just getting exceptional discs; you're joining a movement. A movement to reclaim our oceans, to support sustainable practices, and to elevate your disc golf experience to new heights."
Trash Panda Disc Golf
We exist to “Grow the Sport Sustainably” in any way that we can. It's the core of why we started in the first place. Some of our work includes:
100% recycled plastic ONLY:
We draw a hard-line at the materials we use to make discs. There’s already so much plastic out there in the world — so we feel it unnecessary to create the demand for more. To date, we’ve recycled over 28,000 lbs of plastic.
Sustainable shipping:
Our boxes are made from 100% recycled cardboard printed with algae ink and secured with tape made from recycled paper. We also cover the cost of offsetting the carbon footprint of every single package shipped.
Certified B Corp:
Becoming a Certified B Corp means we've met the highest standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. It's a rare and rigorous certification that reflects our commitment to using business as a force for good, ensuring sustainability is at the core of everything we do.
1% for the Planet:
As a member of 1% For the Planet, we donate 1% of our revenue each year to environmental initiatives.
Disc Recycling Program:
What happens to discs when they're beat up, chewed, or no longer usable? In 2023, we started the only Disc Recycling Program in the world to solve this problem and make sure no discs are left behind. To date, we've recycled over 21,000 discs.
Collaboration
Sustainability isn’t a competition, it's a team effort. As we like to say: "It's not about someone doing everything, but rather everyone doing something."
To date, we’ve collaborated with brands like Jomez Pro, UDisc, Gateway Disc Sports, the Disc Golf Pro Tour, DiscDot, Pound, FlighTowel, WhaleSacs, Renu, and more to grow the sport sustainably.
