The Wave Foundation, Circlarity, Pinoké and EHL join forces for sustainability

The ABN AMRO EHL FINAL8 has the ambition to be the most sustainable hockey event yet in Europe with an integrated approach from sustainable partners.

To pursue this goal, The Wave Foundation, Circlarity, Pinoké and EHL are joining forces with a sustainable approach to the top hockey event

In addition to top hockey, host club Pinoké also is working with The Wave Foundation and sustainability partner Circlarity to make this event as sustainable and as circular as possible. Sustainability and sport go hand in hand. All sports clubs in the Netherlands together already account for 53 million kilos of waste per year, of which 76% is incinerated or landfilled. This can and must change.   

This will be done during the event via different approaches:

• Preventing waste by purchasing more sustainable products; such as re-used coffee cups and oyster mushroom bitter balls, made from oyster mushrooms grown on coffee drap

• The collection of waste by Pinoké youth teams who will clean the site on a daily basis and separate the waste in a responsible manner, using waste bins in all colours of the rainbow     

• Better separation of waste by Circlarity; separating as many different (mono) flows as possible with the right means and having it processed by the most sustainable processors; 

• After the EHL, Circlarity will report on the total use of the event, such as purchasing, waste flows and circular products. 

This message will be conveyed by  four top hockey players and participants in the tournament: Josine Koning (Den Bosch), Jorrit Croon (Bloemendaal), Miles Bukkens (Pinoké) and Famke Richardson (SCHC) with a video that will be shown before and after all matches.

Art for circular inpsiration

To inspire visitors about what can be done with waste, there will be a special, circular stand on the sports field with a Waste Lab where Circlarity and The Wave Foundation will give daily demonstrations. A work of art by Refunc, commissioned by Circlarity, will also be exhibited on the site. With this artwork, viewers are stimulated to look at waste differently and to become aware of their own ecological and social footprint and visitors of the event can donate their old hockeystick. 

On Thursday 6 April at 15.00, there will be a meeting for press, sponsors and invited guests to unveil the artwork and providing an explanation of the artwork and the Stadium Clean Up. The first hockeystick will be donated by Derck de Vilder (SV Kampong & National Team) who is an ambassador of Hockey Dreams.

Collecting hockey equipment for Hockey Dreams Foundation 

During the event, visitors can donate their (old) hockey sticks, balls and bibs to the Hockey Dreams Foundation. Hockey is an NGO registered in the Netherlands and through sport and play and, specifically, through our beloved sport of hockey, they create local learning opportunities for children and young adults in Uganda, Zambia and Malawi: meaningful experiences on the pitch and in their communities in general. The donations during the EHL contribute to the hockey programs in Uganda, Malawi and Zambia. 

More information: www.hockeydreams.nl

The Wave Foundation

The Wave Foundation was founded in 2020 from an initiative of HC Bloemendaal with founders Florian Fuchs, Roel Bovendeert, Olivier van Nieuwenhuizen and Niels-Olaf Bout. The Wave’s mission is to make sports clubs in the Netherlands plastic-free, litter-free and circular by supporting clubs with the right knowledge and tools.

This is done, among other things, in collaboration with Circlarity and the Netherlands Clean Foundation (‘Nederland Schoon’) by connecting between (youth) members, municipality, sponsors and stakeholders, together making it more sustainable, creating awareness and taking actions.     

To achieve this goal, The Wave Foundation organizes, among other things, the annual Club Clean Up. On March 18, 2023, 7 sports clubs participated with 50 youth teams and a total of 500 children. Together they cleaned up 200 kilograms of rubbish

More information: www.foundationthewave.org 

Circlarity and sustainable sports clubs

Circlarity’s mission is to make all sports clubs waste-free within 10 years. To achieve this, Circlarity supports sports clubs through a platform to deal with the use of raw materials as sustainably as possible (#zerowaste). Last year, the first steps were taken in North Holland towards circular sports clubs. Where sport connects on the field, Circlarity does so outside the field.  

From coffee grounds to oyster mushroom croquettes, from orange peels to cleaning products and from sponsor banners to ball bags; it is not only sustainable but also often cost-saving          . 

Circlarity is a venture of Milgro. Laurens Groen started this company thirty years ago with the aim of accelerating towards a circular economy by looking at waste differently. Milgro enables organizations and companies to integrate their business operations in a profitable way on a sustainable use of raw materials. Milgro connects, improves and amazes every day with 130 employees     .  

More information: www.Circlarity.com

Province of North Holland as sponsor

The province of Noord-Holland sponsors EHL Hockey to make the organization of the EHL more sustainable. Pinoké uses the sponsorship contribution for sustainability measures, such as the deposit system for the rPET recycling cup, but also the materials for the clean-ups such as pegs, vests and buckets.