The Circular Rink Economy
The Circular Rink Economy
The circular economy — a model where materials stay in use as long as possible through recycling, repair, and reuse rather than following a linear path from manufacturing to landfill — is gaining traction in hockey rink operations with meaningful financial and environmental benefits.
What You Need to Know
The circular rink economy encompasses several interconnected initiatives. Equipment exchange programs within hockey communities allow gear to move from players who have outgrown or no longer need it to players who can use it, extending the functional life of every piece of equipment produced. Well-organized exchange programs reduce the total equipment spend in a hockey community and keep quality gear in play longer.
Rink infrastructure itself is part of the circular equation. Refrigerant management in ice plants is a critical application — refrigerants that are recovered, recertified, and reused rather than vented represent both environmental compliance and operational cost reduction. The shift to lower global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants is a circular economy move that major rink operators are executing in conjunction with refrigeration system upgrades.
Ice resurfacing water is another circular opportunity. The hot water used in flooding operations can be heated using waste heat recovered from the refrigeration system — a circular energy use that reduces utility costs significantly. Some advanced rink operations filter and recycle resurfacing water, reducing total freshwater consumption by a meaningful percentage.
For youth hockey organizations, circular economy principles applied to equipment can dramatically reduce the per-player equipment cost that is one of hockey's most significant access barriers.
Circular Economy Actions:
- Establish or participate in equipment exchange programs in your hockey community
- Advocate for arena refrigerant recovery and recycling with your facility management
- Support rinks that invest in heat recovery and water recycling infrastructure
- Buy used gear as your default before considering new purchases
Circular economics makes hockey more affordable and more sustainable simultaneously.