Play Green, Perform Better: THERMOLAST® R for Pickleball

Pickleball is a fast-growing paddle sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton, and table tennis into a fun and accessible game for all ages. Equipment makers understand the importance of using advanced materials like thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), score points in providing comfort and usability while meeting sustainability standards for recreational products and consumer goods.

KRAIBURG TPE, a global manufacturer of TPEs and customized material solutions for various industries offers the THERMOLAST® R series, a sustainable TPE material solution and soft surface TPE material with exceptional properties for comfortable, durable, and high-performance products.

Sustainability at play
THERMOLAST® R series contains 9% to 35% post-consumer recycled (PCR) content, depending on hardness. In pickleball applications, THERMOLAST® R recycled content TPE compounds may be considered as a material option, offering a balance of function, feel, and sustainability.

Soft touch and colorability advantage
THERMOLAST® R compounds provide a soft and smooth feel that enhances grip comfort while maintaining a clean surface. Available in natural and translucent colors, this non-sticky grip TPE series can also be pre-colored in a wide range of shades, offering design flexibility. These properties make THERMOLAST® R suitable for a broad range of consumer products. Typical applications include handles and grips, functional and design elements, toothbrush, razors, toys, household articles, and seals for housings.

Top-notch adhesion and design flexibility
The THERMOLAST® R series exhibits excellent adhesion to polypropylene (PP), a widely used plastic in sports equipment. This property allows manufacturers to design overmolded handles or functional components without additional adhesives. The material also offers optimized mechanical properties and temperature stability up to 80 °C, ensuring consistent performance across various environments and usage conditions. Additionally, it provides manufacturers with an efficient processing advantage through injection molding, enabling high-volume production with dependable quality.

Sustainability from the get-go
At KRAIBURG TPE, sustainability drives our innovation. Our portfolio includes bio-based TPEs and compounds with post-consumer (PCR) and post-industrial (PIR) recycled content. Selected TPEs are certified under GRS and ISCC PLUS. We also provide Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) data upon request to support sustainability decisions.
We proudly earned the EcoVadis Gold Medal in 2025 and are committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), aligning our goals with global climate action.
From reducing emissions to increasing circularity, our sustainable TPEs deliver reliable performance and are available worldwide to support your applications while advancing your sustainability goals.
Get in touch today to learn how KRAIBURG TPE can support your sustainability and product development journey.
Discover More with TPE: Whether it’s bike grip or scuba flippers, KRAIBURG TPE delivers safe, durable, and user-friendly solutions for every day.

Disclaimer: The applications mentioned are illustrative of material capabilities only. Final product suitability and regulatory compliance must be assessed and validated by the customer.