At Trash Panda, our mission to innovate sustainably in the world of disc golf has led us to some pretty unique experiments.
But one experiment has been in our sights for years.
And it started with a question..
Or questions rather:
Is recycled plastic less durable?
How many times can plastic be recycled?
Do recycled products perform differently than virgin products?
When you explore the world of plastics for answers to these questions, you find a lot of guesses and speculations, but very few real world experiments.
The guesses typically range in the realm of 2-3 generations - meaning you can recycle plastic 2-3 times before the harmful side effects start to show up in droves.
In disc golf specifically, many people speculate that recycled discs are less durable and fly differently.
But still, no manufacturer has tested it...
So we decided to do it ourselves.
The Experiment:
Whether a performance based product (discs) made from one of the most finicky plastics that exists (TPU) would be able to be recycled over and over and over (ten times).
So we started with 100 perfect discs, each made from 100% recycled TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane).
The plan was to keep 10 discs from the first batch, grind up the remaining 90, and make them into discs again. And again.. And again..
We’d repeat this process, generation after generation, until we had no more plastic left to recycle.
So how did it go?!
Gen 1: went smoothly (as expected)
Gen 2: went about the same (no noticeable differences)
Gen 3: was incredible (literally the best run we’ve ever had)
Gen 4-7: went slowly downhill (the processing in the machine became trickier)
Gen 8: went better than generations 4-7!
Gen 9: went both smoothly and poorly (Jesse made a mistake and miscalculated the plastic needed for the test)
Gen 10: went better than the 9th generation
Initial Reactions
As far as the processing in the machine, things became slightly more complicated; but as far as the end product, the only noticeable difference was a minor discoloration.
No joke: each generation literally feels the exact same.
And it turns out: the yellow discoloration increased for every consecutive generation, but there is an additive that can be used to avoid this.
If blind guessing which generation was which based on feel alone, it would be impossible! (Yes, we tried that too.)
But how would each generation fly and how durable would they be?
Testing Flight and Durability
Flight Test 🚀
To see if the recycling process affected performance, we set up at a 200 foot hole and threw discs from each generation.
Results: For every disc, from Gen 1 to Gen 10, there was no noticeable difference in flight.
Durability Test 💪
We threw each disc five times into a brick wall to test durability. (Super scientific, we know 😂)
Results: Surprisingly, there were no significant differences between the generations — even between Gen 1 and 10.
As an added bonus, it was freezing outside (which traditionally results in stiffer plastic and less durability) and they still held up extremely well.
Our Takeaway:
After recycling discs ten times, the only notable differences were the processing inside injection machine each disc and the minor discoloration.
The feel, flight, and durability remained consistent, suggesting that a disc can hypothetically be recycled far more than ten times without losing its quality. (While we ran out of plastic at Gen 10, the results indicate that the potential for recycling is much higher.)
Down the road, we hope to take this experiment even further… But for now, the results we were able to gather made us super stoked about the “circularity” of discs (pun intended) 🤘
Not to mention, the potentials for recycled plastic products outside of disc golf too!
To see the experiment in action, check out the YouTube video below.
