Ice skating without ice: Glice deploys the world’s largest eco-ice rink in Mexico

Established in 2012 in Lucerne, Glice a product of Innovational AG is synthetic ice rink made from ultra-dense polymers to facilitate sustainable ice sports worldwide in both classic winter sports nations and the tropics. The company’s revolutionary eco-ice technology requires no power, water, chemicals or resurfacing equipment to operate and offers an ecological and economical alternative to refrigerated ice. Since 2012, Glice has installed more than 1,500 Eco-Rinks in over 80 countries.

This year, the government of Mexico City selected Glice to install sustainable skating rink technology on the city’s main square, known as Zócalo, a tradition in Mexico City for many years. For the first time in history, this year’s holiday skating rink will use no water or power,, making it the world’s largest ecological skating rink.

Compared to a conventional ice rink, the 4,000 m2 (43,000 ft2) eco-friendly alternative will save 185,000 litres (49,000 gallons) of water – the monthly energy consumption of 4,000 average households – and 95 tons of CO2 emissions over the course of this event.

“We are honoured to offer the Mexico City residents fun and eco-friendly skating experience during this holiday season. Glice looks like ice, glides like ice, but is not ice,” said Co-Founder and CEO Viktor Meier. “It enables a great skating experience in locations where it would be ordinarily impossible to make and hold ice.”

“Our new Eco-Rink offers the joy of ice skating without the negative environmental impact related to the operation of conventional ice rinks,” said Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, Head of Government Mexico City. Furthermore, skaters do not get wet, and the shock-absorbing properties of the Eco-Ice decrease the risk of injuries. Local residents benefit from the absence of generator noises and our new rink has a capacity of 1,200 skaters.