BWF approves use of synthetic feather shuttlecocks from 2021

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 -- The Badminton World Federation (BWF) today approved the use of synthetic feather shuttlecocks at international tournaments of all levels from 2021 to reduce waste and for sustainability of the sport. 

Through the decision, BWF has made it possible for shuttlecock manufacturers to seek approval under the BWF Equipment Approval scheme for versions and technical aspects of their synthetic feather shuttlecocks to be used in international competitions.

BWF said after extensive testing of various prototypes conducted during the development through technological collaborations with Yonex, the synthetic feather shuttle was more durable and economical compared to a traditional natural feathered shuttle.

The various tests also discovered that the synthetic feather shuttle could reduce shuttlecock usage up to 25 percent, providing a significant environmental and economic edge for badminton going forward.

BWF secretary-general, Thomas Lund said the vision is to become less dependent of using natural feathers for shuttlecocks and believes it will lead to greater acceptance and widespread use of synthetic feather shuttlecocks from 2021 and beyond.

“We heard from some of the elite players involved in the testing that they were able to adjust to the slight variances between the synthetic feather version and the traditional natural feather shuttlecock quite quickly, so that is great news for the performance of the shuttle.

“We are naturally thrilled by the outcome of the project and we look forward to the synthetic feather shuttle evolving even further. A big thank you must go to Yonex for their hard work, innovative thinking and dedication to the cause over the last five years,” Lund said in a statement.

The world badminton governing body expects that there will be an implementation period for a number of years before the synthetic feather shuttlecock will be more widely used as the production capacity and general availability of new synthetic products will slowly increase to cover the expected demand.

“It will be up to the various tournament hosts in cooperation with any brands having an approved synthetic feather shuttlecock available, to decide in which tournaments the new synthetic feather shuttlecock version will be used,” it said.

-- BERNAMA