In the city of Despeñaderos, Córdoba, the Club Juventud Alianza achieved a milestone in sports and sustainability by building the floor of their basketball court using recycled soda caps.
This ambitious project had the support of the Municipality of Despeñaderos and the collaboration of Bloomberg Philanthropies, an international foundation that promotes initiatives for climate impact. The initiative was framed within the Youth Funds and Climate Action Program.
How the idea of the ecological court was born
The club’s president, Matías Tabares, expressed his satisfaction with the achievement: “We are very happy to have built our sports floor with recycled plastic caps”.
The idea emerged in 2024, when the players in the U13 and U15 categories saw that the Asociación Deportiva Atenas had installed a plastic floor on their court. Inspired by that initiative and with the encouragement of the Municipality of Despeñaderos, they began to work on the possibility of creating their own court with recycled materials.
The main objective was to promote circular economy and environmental awareness. Various options were considered such as the use of plastic bottles and toys, until the potential of soda caps as raw material was identified.
Massive collection of caps: the community challenge
For the construction of the sports floor, the club needed almost two tons of caps, a challenge that mobilized the entire community.
“We started working with all the kids, we organized a massive campaign in Despeñaderos and the neighboring towns,” Tabares recounted. In the process, they managed to accumulate large volumes of caps in warehouses until they reached the goal.
Each square meter of the floor required approximately 3.5 kilos of caps, making the collection a tough but rewarding task. In addition, the project received the support of the Faculty of Economics of the National University of Córdoba, which contributed with two giant bags full of caps.
Neighbors actively got involved, depositing their caps in collection points, where they were later sorted by color.
Production and installation of the new floor
To carry out the project, the club contacted PLC Solutions, the same company that had installed Atenas’ floor. In meetings with the company, it was established that the caps could be used as raw material. This was complemented by the financing of 5,000 dollars granted by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Finally, the caps were sent to Córdoba, where the interlocking tiles that will form the court floor were produced. With all the elements already in Despeñaderos, only the assembly of the pieces remains.
Inauguration with a special godfather
The inauguration of the new court will be between April 21 and 25, although the exact date has not been defined yet. The event will have the presence of Pichi Campana, a prominent figure in Argentine basketball, who will act as the initiative’s godfather.
Cover photo: Basquet Plus
