63 speakers shown
Aina Omo-Bare
Aina is the founder of Idia’s Community Kitchen, a food poverty charity based in Hackney, London. She established the charity in loving memory of her late daughter, Idia, following her passing. Aina has always believed in sharing what she has and helping people who may be less fortunate. After losing her daughter, she wanted to turn her grief into something positive and ensure that Idia’s name continued through an act of love and service to others. Idia’s Community Kitchen is about community, compassion, dignity and bringing people together. Aina’s hope is to continue building the charity, reaching more people who need support and creating something positive and lasting in her daughter’s name. Aina is 60 years old and a proud mother of four. Born in London, she is of Nigerian heritage and has always held family at the centre of what she does.
Alexander Morgan
Alexander is the architect of NEEDC, Clean-Wave's methodology for certifying avoided embodied carbon in construction. He studied Environmental Science and Business Management at Brunel University London and has spent over 15 years working across sustainable business development, carbon measurement and environmental innovation. His work grounds Clean-Wave's methodology in EPD data reported to EN 15804 and LETI's embodied-carbon benchmarks, verified through a five-gate audit chain.
Andrea Charlson
Andrea is a chartered environmentalist and engineer who has been at the forefront of circularity in the built environment for 15 years. Andrea’s focus within The Concrete Centre is to support the sustainable use of concrete, enabling greater circularity and highlighting innovation. She represents the concrete sector on British Standards committees and collaborates with other groups such as the Green Construction Board Waste and Resources Group and the UKGBC Circular Economy Forum.
Andy Kellar
As Principal Consultant, Andy leads the Research Consulting division at Ecogenesys, an independent arm of one of the UK's leading producer compliance schemes. Andy has a background in supply chain management and operations, transitioning to his current position in 2025. His pan-European consulting projects include Circuit4EU, FutuRaM, CE-Rise, Metaloop and SaGaCITY.
Anna Carmichael
Anna has worked in waste prevention, environmental education, event planning and sustainability for more than 20 years. Roles in local government, schools, regional partnerships, community groups and the not-for-profit sector have given her a wide range of experience to draw from. Anna specialises in building relationships, working with communities, initiating behaviour change and creating engaging content to inspire positive action.
Antony Buchan
Antony leads ReLondon's local authority support work. He provides advisory support to London's local authorities and stakeholders on decreasing waste, increasing recycling, and adopting circular economy principles. This includes delivering research, innovation and demonstration projects, with a close integration to ReLondon's behaviour change work.
Asad Hamir
Asad is the co-founder of Klyk and is MD of the Hardware division. He co-founded the business after a trip to East Africa exposed him to the reality of e-waste – a crisis he was unaware of. Prior to Klyk Asad built a hardware business that grew to 200 employees selling millions of smartphones across the UK through a major partnership with O2. He successfully exited the business in 2024. With this business being part of the e-waste problem, he realised that he had to be part of the solution. Through his previous background in optometry, starting his career as an optometrist, He is also a co-founder in Ocushield a digital eyecare brand which was on dragons den in 2022 and a majority shareholder in Eye Emporium, an opticians chain. Through which he has a keen interest in the impacts of technology on our health and wellness. He is also a angel investor in several startups, 3 of which are in the reLondon community – Batch works, Team repair and Tern eco
Ash Goddard
Co-founder and director of nonprofit Climate Clarity, Ash has extensive experience in facilitating workshops about sustainability challenges. He brings together climate science, circularity, ecology, earth system science and activism to tell a compelling story of how and why to re-imagine our current patterns. Recognised as a powerful facilitator, his workshops inspire and delight.
Beckie Close
Beckie Close is the Director of Recipro, a business demonstrating how the circular economy can deliver environmental, social and commercial value. Through Recipro, Rebecca works to keep surplus and reusable building materials in circulation, diverting valuable resources from waste while making home improvement more affordable and accessible. Since 2017, Recipro has also been recycling paint to create Recolour ReColour is an innovative process, transforming unwanted paint into quality recycled products sold through a growing network of independent retailers, charities and social enterprises across the UK. To date, their project has diverted almost 1.5 million litres of paint from the waste stream, and hundreds of tonnes of building materials from landfill annually. Recipro is small but mighty, passionate about the environment and community, and not afraid to do things differently. Rebecca believes that the circular economy should be more than an environmental ambition — it should be an accessible, affordable and commercially sustainable way of doing business.
Ben Maizey
Ben is responsible for sustainability, business development, environmental management systems and contract management across the Group’s waste and recycling divisions. His career has focused particularly on the management, recycling and recovery of collected waste materials, alongside wider sustainability and resource management. Ben is also the founder of Recycle Link Wales, which brings together professionals from across Wales’ resource industry through networking events and industry engagement.
Cat Smith
Cat Smith is the CEO of Community TechAid, an award winning charity that helps to end digital isolation through reuse and repair. They work with communities throughout London who are experiencing barriers to housing, healthcare, education and employment, often exacerbated by digital poverty, and have supported over 8,000 residents with refurbished technology since 2020. Cat is also a Trustee for the Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network and for the Aeonian Foundation, a grant making organisation.
Cath Riseborough
Cath oversees social value and environmental activities at The Momentum Group, a Liverpool-based B Corp certified property services company. Passionate about ensuring businesses play their part in driving change, Cath’s role at Momentum includes finding opportunities to improve environmental performance and make a positive impact, working across the five Companies within the Group.
Chris Steele-Kendrick
Chris is the founder of Streetbox London CIC, a social enterprise making nutritious, affordable food more accessible while reducing food waste. With over 23 years’ experience in fresh produce sourcing, wholesale markets and distribution, he brings practical knowledge of the food system to community led solutions. His work connects growers and wholesalers with schools, food banks and community groups across North London, combining surplus redistribution with sustainable trading to support greater food equity.
Damian Taylor
Damian leads Surface Matter’s Specification Sales team, helping designers and makers navigate the growing world of responsible material choices. His approach is rooted in finding the right material for the right application — balancing performance, aesthetics, longevity and environmental impact rather than simply pushing products. With a strong technical understanding and a solution-led mindset, Damian works closely with project teams to uncover opportunities for lower-impact materials, circular thinking and smarter specification. He’s particularly interested in what happens beyond the point of installation: how materials can be designed, specified and managed to stay in use for longer.
Danielle Dawson
At Holcim UK, Danielle focuses on the development and scale-up of lower-carbon cement and concrete products. She leads initiatives on supplementary cementitious materials. She plays a key role in linking industry partners, universities, start-ups, and standard bodies together to make emerging technologies accessible to the construction industry.
David Chenery
David is the co-founder of Reassemble, a sustainable interior designer in hospitality. With 15 years of designing excellence within constraint, has built a Michelin Green Star restaurant at 41% less embodied carbon than a typical fit-out, embedded circularity into GAIL's Bakery expansion across 25+ sites, and developed a circular economy design framework used across architecture, interiors and brand experience. David works with operators on three things: one-off hospitality design, multi-site sustainable expansion, and sustainable design strategy. The mission is to move our corner of the design world to the principles of a Circular Economy. More at reassemble.studio
Debbie Ward
Debbie's work focuses on the circular economy, particularly how a more circular construction industry can help tackle the triple planetary crises while building resilience in communities and businesses. Debbie works part-time at the Alliance for Sustainable Building Products on Reuse and Circular Economy, is a Director of The Rebuild Site (having led its Reuse Hub project) and Cirklo Consult (circular economy training, education and advisory, including Carbon Literacy) and does project work with Sustainability West Midlands. A strong believer in collaboration and knowledge-sharing to accelerate change, Debbie is an Associate Member of ISEP (IEMA) and sits on its Circular Economy Steering Group, a member of ACAN's Circular Economy Task Group, a UKGBC member (via ASBP), and a co-organiser of the Birmingham & West Midlands Circular Economy Club. Debbie has worked at regional, national and international levels in the UK and Australia, holding degrees in European Languages & Business, plus postgraduate qualifications in marketing, innovation/circular economy, and environmental management, and is PRINCE2 qualified.
Dominick Pegram
Having studied at Cambridge and achieved a master’s degree, Dominick entered the world of contemporary furniture. Believing there was a ‘better way’, the business was founded in 2009, the consultancy is dedicated to working in sync with the architectural and design community in which they work and serve. Culturally and commercially innovative, Dominick inspires the team to be ‘unwilling to conform to the mundane’ As team principal, Dominick Pegram is actively involved in a number of associations. He worked with BCO (British council of offices) to compile a furniture re-use best practice guide, sits on the bank of England’s decision-making panel, is a member of the sustainable design collective and on the management team of Business Declares. Dominick stood as a Green Party parliamentary candidate in the 2024 general election.
Cllr Eloise Waldon-Day
Cllr Eloise Waldon-Day is Executive Member for Council Coordination and Climate at Southwark Council. Cllr Waldon Day’s responsibilities include overseeing development of the Borough Action Plan, supporting delivery of council priorities across portfolios and ensuring climate and sustainability are embedded across council services and decision-making.
Emma Chaplin
After years of working in TV as a producer in comedy and entertainment, I co-founded PropUp Project in 2021. We're an award winning non-profit organisation set up to provide a social and sustainable solution for the creative industries. We do this by redistributing leftover sets, props, costumes and other production items to encourage a circular economy, promote reuse and support fantastic community causes.
Dr Emma Fromberg
Dr Emma H. E. Fromberg is a Research Fellow at King’s College London’s Centre for Sustainable Business, where she leads academic–industry partnerships focused on circular economy innovation, sustainable value chains and systems change. Trained as an Industrial Design Engineer and Strategic Product Designer, her work explores how businesses can contribute to more regenerative and inclusive economic systems. Her research examines how insights from ecology can inform economic and organisational design. Based on this research, she developed and authored Nature’s Playbook, a research-based tool that supports organisations in applying ecological design thinking to circular economy innovation. Emma also develops applied research projects with industry partners, including work with BIC on circular collection systems and a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Circularise focused on Digital Product Passports for EV batteries. Previously, she was Course Director in Sustainable Business at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, where she led the Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Business. She continues to contribute to CISL as an academic supervisor on the Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainable Business.
Emma Hardy MP
Emma Hardy was appointed Minister of State in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 21 July 2026. She was previously Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs between 9 July 2024 and 21 July 2026. She was elected as the MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice in July 2024. The Minister of State in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has specific responsibilities for: – water reform and delivery – environmental governance, including the Environmental Improvement Plan – flooding and emergencies – waste, resources and the circular economy – chemicals and air quality – sponsorship of the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), Environment Agency, the New Water Regulator and Consumer Council for Water (CCW)
Emma Pinchbeck
Emma is the Chief Executive of the Climate Change Committee, the UK’s national climate advisor. The statutory body advises government and parliament on the country’s Carbon Budgets, Climate Change Risk Assessments and progress in delivery. The CCC also advises the devolved governments on their own climate change ambitions and carbon budgets. Prior to this, Emma was Chief Executive of Energy UK, Deputy Chief Executive of Renewable UK, and Head of Climate and Energy at WWF-UK. Emma is an expert on energy and is a Fellow of the Energy Institute. She has held several advisory or board positions, and currently sits on the advisory board of the UK Energy Research Council (UKERC) and the board of UK:100.
Emma Porter
Emma is Founder and CEO of The Rebuild Site, a community interest company she established in 2021 to reduce waste in the construction industry, taking surplus material from sites and putting it to good use rather than seeing it thrown away or down cycled. She previously held senior roles including Practice Director for Transport Advisory and Consulting at AtkinsRéalis, Managing Director and Construction Director at Story Contracting, and Board Member and Chair of the Carlisle Town Deal Board. Emma has also served as a Board Member of the Railway Industry Association, Chair of Story Plant Limited, and on the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership's Construction Sector Panel. She is regularly asked to speak at industry events and mentors a number of people across the construction sector, alongside holding an MBA from INSEAD.
Flávia Sales
Flávia Sales is a Strategic Marketing, Circular Economy & Innovation Advisor and international keynote speaker with more than 20 years of experience helping startups, scaleups and industrial organisations transform innovation into market growth, strategic positioning and long-term business value. Her work sits at the intersection of strategy, sustainability, technology and organisational transformation, with a particular focus on helping organisations develop the adaptive capabilities needed to thrive in the transition towards a circular economy. Flávia holds postgraduate qualifications in Strategic Marketing and Circular Economy (UPC Barcelona), as well as a Master's in Digital Transformation & Artificial Intelligence. She collaborates with Women Action Sustainability (WAS), Spain's leading executive network advancing sustainability leadership across business. She has spoken and moderated at international events including World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF) Side Events, Climate Week NYC, EU Green Week, ReLondon Circular Economy Week and Poland Circular Week. Her work has also been recognised with the Sustainability & Innovation Queer Leadership Award from We Create Space (WCS), Europe's largest LGBTQ+ professional network. Through FlaviaSales.com, she shares executive insights, keynote presentations and thought leadership, helping organisations rethink how they grow, innovate and create long-term value in an increasingly complex world.
Georgina Smith
Georgina Smith is a Director at Broadbase Furniture Solutions and founder of Continu, its circular furniture arm. She advises clients on everything furniture, from specification through to project and move management, and starts every project with the same question: what have you already got? Reuse, renewal and reinvention before replaceme
Gilli Hobbs
Gilli Hobbs is based in France and the UK and has provided technical and expert input to sustainability related projects in the built environment for 30 years. She was a director in the strategic advisory team at BRE until 2021, working across low carbon buildings and building products, circular & lean construction, renewable energy technologies and sustainable communities. Gilli is experienced in the delivery of complex and multi-disciplinary programmes of work, such as Home of 2030, EU BAMB (Buildings as Material Banks), and EC studies on Circular Economy Principles & Measuring Circularity; alongside targeted technical input, such as Circular Economy implementation at the Meridian Water regeneration project in Enfield. She co-developed the widely used environmental reporting software SMARTWaste and has created bespoke sustainability standards internationally. She is currently Chair of B558/1 Circular Economy in Construction and project lead for the European Task Group considering standards for pre-demolition & pre-redevelopment audits and evaluation.
Gosiame Lamola
Gosiame Lamola is the founder of FLUF.io a developer of technologies for the circular economy. FLUF’s flagship product is FLUF Connect which provides automation infrastructure for resellers and other businesses around the world to simultaneously list and manage their inventory across a growing list of more than 50 online sales channels.
Graeme English
As Circular Economy Advisor at ReLondon, Graeme enables organisations to reuse, repair, share and recycle more by delivering business support and research initiatives. He leads ReLondon’s work on circular design and manufacturing and delivers research on corporate use of electrical and electrical equipment. Graeme has a background in both engineering and sustainable development and is passionate about low-carbon innovation and mission-led business.
Hélène Carpentier
Hélène is the founder of Circular Workplaces, the start up working with workplaces on their zero waste strategy. She has spent over 10 years in facilities management and the circular economy, including roles at ISS and CBRE, and now helps organisations reduce waste at source through procurement, habits and how space is used. She recently spoke at the IFMA World Workplace Europe event and have taken part in various podcasts with Zero Waste Canada, Insights for a better workplace and Clear Haze Exchange. She is also part of the TRUE Zero Waste advisory council and have contributed to the WGBC playbook on circular buildings.
Izzy Nuttall
Izzy is an environmental and sustainability practitioner, educator, community organiser, and facilitator working at the intersection of environment, systems, and people. She is an environmental consultant/advisor in the built environment, working on projects ranging from environmental management, carbon assessments, BREEAM Infrastructure, EIA climate change assessments and ESG management. With particular interests in sustainable procurement and circular economy principles. She is currently completing an MSc in Sustainability with Cranfield University, where she's exploring systems thinking, economics, LCAs, and innovation (to name a few), and how these ideas translate into practice.
Jack Sindhu
Jack is a Fellow of the Institute of Concrete Technology (FICT) with over 35 years of experience in the concrete and cement industries. He has extensive expertise in high-performance and lower-carbon concrete solutions, including calcined clay and alternative binders. Jack has contributed to major projects such as The Shard, the London 2012 Olympic Games, Crossrail, and the Northern Line Extension.
Jen Dolan
Jen is the Operations Manager at Work and Play Scrapstore and will be leading visitors on a behind-the-scenes tour during Circular Economy Week. With a passion for reuse, sustainability and community, Jen will share how the Scrapstore works with businesses to rescue surplus materials from waste and landfill, how volunteers help sort and prepare donations, and how these materials are then given a new life through schools, students, artists and the wider community.
Jo Rogers
Jo Rogers is the Acting Chief Executive of ReLondon. She joined ReLondon as Director of Operations and Governance in January 2022, before stepping into the role of Acting Chief Executive in May 2026. Jo has many years’ experience working in operational leadership roles at third-sector organisations including environmental think tank Green Alliance. She also currently serves as Chair of UK100, a network uniting cross-party local leaders to tackle climate change, drive net zero action and improve communities across the UK.
Joanna Knight
Joanna has over 35 years’ experience working in the furniture and interiors sector and now works as an independent sustainability consultant. She is co-founder of the Sustainable Design Collective and editor of Sustainability Works. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals, a Chartered Environmentalist and is passionate about the circular economy and the importance of driving out the established ’take, make, dispose’ practices.
John Burton
John is a Research Analyst at Ecogenesys. With a degree in Physics and background in data science, his current projects include DPP, Critical Raw Materials, Circular Economy, Reverse Logistics and Recycling of Electricals.
Josh Cleall
Passionate about making Net Zero a reality, Josh helps organisations engage, educate, and empower their people to take meaningful climate action. As CEO at Jump, Josh works with major businesses, NHS Trusts, and universities to turn sustainability ambitions into measurable impact—leveraging gamification, behavioural insights, and data-driven strategies.
Julie Tyrell
Julie Tyrrell is Head of eCommerce & Retail Sustainability at Oxfam. Here she leads the organisation’s eCommerce strategy by expanding circular business models that generate vital income and support the delivery of Oxfam’s Retail sustainability ambitions. Julie and her team are responsible for Oxfam’s stock strategy, building and managing key corporate relationships, overseeing warehouse operations and logistics, and leading the waste and recycling approach for any unsold stock. Through her work, Julie drives commercial growth, operational excellence and sustainable retail practices that maximise both social and environmental impact.
Kate Allan
I spent many happy years working as a TV producer in Comedy Entertainment. In 2021, I sustainably side-tracked and co-founded PropUp Project where I now spend my working days. PropUp is an award winning non-profit offering a social and sustainable clearance solution for the TV & Film industry. We rehome, resell and recycle all leftover set, props, costume and production surplus to avoid landfill waste and support local communities.
Katie Moriyama
Katie leads ReLondon’s behaviour change and campaigns work, managing the team who run London Recycles and Love Not Landfill, as well as scoping and designing communications for local projects.
Keith Hodgson
A retired graphic designer with experience in running small businesses, Keith Hodgson assisted Chris Steele-Kendrick in setting up StreetBox at the beginning of Covid and went on to be a founding organiser of the Haringey Community Food Network. He is also involved in other voluntary and local community work, including being a chef's assistant at a forest school charity children's summer camp for most of the summer. Keith is passionate about working to find solutions and campaigning for a fairer food system and more healthy eating for all.
Laura Smith
Laura Smith has worked across the social sector in the UK for two decades, focusing on business transformation and user-centred research and service design for social enterprises, charities and public agencies. Her work spans healthcare, public services and social innovation, untangling complex problems through human-centred design. Laura is co-founder of Unwaste, a social enterprise using data and technology to create circular economies for plastic waste. Through Repa, Unwaste connects informal waste pickers with waste processing factories, guaranteeing fair prices and building verifiable transaction records through Wastebase, its own technology platform. Laura leads user experience and design for Repa, and has been closely involved in prototyping, testing and validating the model in real-world conditions. She is a regular speaker on design thinking, human-centred design and circular economy, and an advocate for women in tech.
Loic Le Fouest
Loïc is a Customer Experience (CX) expert who specialises in making circular business models commercially successful. He bridges the gap between sustainability goals, customer adoption and business strategy, using behavioural science and service design to create experiences that are both profitable and planet-positive. By focusing on customer engagement, Loïc helps forward-looking organisations turn circular concepts into thriving, customer-centric realities.
Max Crichton
Max is Design Director at Virtus, where he leads the Designworks team and oversees design activity across the company. With a background in architecture and a career shaped by both collaborative and independent practice, Max brings a distinctive approach that balances creativity, technical skill, and a deep sensitivity to context.
Mete Coban MBE
Mete Coban MBE became the Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy in July 2024, overseeing the Mayor’s world-leading climate action plan for the capital. Mete was previously a Councillor and Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment, and Transport in the London Borough of Hackney, delivering a £61 million Green New Deal to tackle the climate crisis. He is best known for pioneering Hackney’s Community Energy Fund, providing clean, green, community-owned energy to 39 not-for-profits. Mete also serves as the Chair of ReLondon.
Michael Cusack
Michael Cusack is Chief Sustainability Officer at ACS Clothing, one of the UK’s leading circular fashion and workwear businesses. A Chartered Engineer, Michael is passionate about turning circular ambition into practical, commercially viable solutions. He works with brands, retailers, charities and employers to develop and scale circular models built around rental, reuse, repair, renewal and recycling – demonstrating that circularity can benefit people, planet and business.
Michelle Whitfield
Michelle has over 20 years’ experience in waste management both in public and private sectors. She leads on the Recycle for Greater Manchester behavioural change communications and engagement programme, working strategical with the 9 Greater Manchester local authorities and SUEZ UK to improve waste reduction, reuse, repair and recycling.
Natalie Ibbott
Natalie has worked in circular economy and waste management for over 20 years and specialises in project management, research and partnerships. In her early career, Natalie worked in local government, including as part of a multi award-winning waste prevention and education team, as well as in waste collection and landfill management. Since 2017 Natalie has worked as a private sector circular economy consultant. She has managed and been involved with numerous high-profile projects for ReLondon, SUEZ, Canary Wharf Group, Defra, The Arts Council England, LARAC, multiple local authorities and commercial clients. She has also worked on several EU-funded projects. At Freegle Natalie is Project Manager for the charity’s Partnerships programme which she works alongside a role as Principal Consultant at built environment consultancy, Reusefully. Since 2018 she has been an active volunteer Leader for Circular Economy Club, organising networking events in London and the 3 Counties region.
Nick Connell
Nick is Head of Resale at Decathlon UK, leading two key circular economy initiatives across in-store, digital and logistics platforms. With over 15 years of retail experience, Nick has scaled key circular initiatives, including launching Second Life and Buyback programs across 45 UK stores and establishing a national Circular Hub that processes over 25,000 items annually. As a European referent for Secondlife and Buyback models, he focuses on transforming circular ambitions into profitable, scalable business operations.
Paul O’Brien
Senior sustainability and operations leader for Senator, specialising in circular business models within the furniture industry.
Poppy Cunningham
As Head of ESG, Poppy brings over 10 years of experience in the built environment taking a practical, delivery-focused approach to sustainability, ensuring circular economy thinking is embedded in every project from the outset.
Richard James MacCowan
Richard James MacCowan is the Founder and Creative Director of the Biomimicry Innovation Lab, and Director and co-founder of Biomimicry UK. His work centres on biomimetics, looking to nature's processes, materials, functions and systems to inspire innovative solutions across cities, manufacturing, food systems and product design. Richard is an award-winning designer who has worked internationally, helping bridge the gap between industry and academia by highlighting the untapped potential nature offers for solving design and systems challenges. A recurring theme in his work is how biomimicry can support circular infrastructure, exploring how cities function and how products and materials might be made more sustainably in the future. He is a regular speaker and chair at industry events and festivals, discussing topics ranging from biomimicry in future cities to bringing nature-inspired thinking into innovation more broadly. He also collaborates internationally on research development through the Design Society and contributes to ISO Standards in Biomimetics, reflecting his commitment to establishing rigour and shared frameworks within the field. Richard's approach emphasises multi-functionality and systems thinking, encouraging designers to set aside assumptions and instead identify the biological strategies nature has already refined, unlocking a broader toolkit for tackling contemporary design and sustainability challenges.
Rob Nicholson
Rob is an Associate Member of the Institute of Concrete Technology (AMICT) with more than 30 years of experience in construction materials. He has worked across aggregates, cementitious products, and lower-carbon solutions in the UK, Europe, North America, and the Middle East. His expertise includes supplementary cementitious materials, lightweight aggregates, and the commercialisation of clean technologies and carbon capture solutions.
Rob Smith
COO of Material Index, Rob is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and Property Developer. With construction as the UK’s most wasteful industry—responsible for 50% of landfill—the reuse of materials is the lowest-carbon option. Yet, currently, less than 2% of materials in construction are reused. Material Index is changing that.
Rosie Rainbow
Rosie lives and breathes the circular economy. With 6+ years’ experience across sustainability strategy and construction materials, she’s passionate about challenging the idea that waste is waste — and finding the potential in what’s already here. As the driving force behind Material Rescue, Rosie works at the intersection of design, sustainability and innovation, helping clients turn circular thinking into practical action. Her focus is on reuse, resourcefulness and collaboration: finding ways to extend material lifecycles, unlock value and keep materials moving through the built environment. From circular strategies and reuse packages to hands-on implementation, Rosie brings together strategic thinking, problem-solving and a healthy dose of curiosity. She builds partnerships, challenges conventional fit-out practices and helps turn complex material streams into opportunities.
Sam Ghazizadeh
Sam is a Chartered Materials Scientist, Chartered Engineer, and Chartered Environmentalist with more than 13 years of specialist experience in the field of cement and concrete. He is an active member of several BSI and CEN technical committees covering the production, specification, testing, and standardisation of cement and concrete. In his current role at the Mineral Products Association, Sam represents the UK cement industry across a wide range of technical, standards, and sustainability forums. He leads major research and development initiatives focused on the introduction and standardisation of new cements in the UK.
Scott Campbell
Scott is the driving force behind Surface Matter, leading with enthusiasm, curiosity and a solution-focused approach to sales and relationships. He’s passionate about bringing people together, building collaborative partnerships and helping the team turn great ideas into practical action. At Surface Matter, the focus is simple: better materials can create better outcomes for people and planet. From championing innovative, sustainable surfaces to developing Material Rescue, Scott is focused on challenging conventional approaches to materials and finding new ways to reduce waste and keep resources in use. Always looking for the next opportunity, he brings energy to conversations with architects, designers, makers, suppliers and partners — connecting people and ideas to create lasting impact.
Simone Greyling
Simone Greyling is the Sustainability and Climate Action Officer at Merseyside Recycling & Waste Authority and lead organiser for the Circular Economy Club Liverpool City Region. Working on initiatives that support climate resilience, resource efficiency, and the transition to a more sustainable future. With a background spanning sustainability strategy, carbon management, environmental communications, and stakeholder engagement, Simone has worked across the public, private, and third sectors to help organisations understand and reduce their environmental impact. Aiming to translate complex environmental challenges into practical action and engage communities, businesses, and decision-makers in meaningful climate conversations. Simone regularly speaks on sustainability, circular economy, climate adaptation, behaviour change, and the role of organisations in creating positive environmental and social impact.
Sophia Yang
Sophia is the Founder & Executive Director of Threading Change, the world's leading for youth, by youth ethical fashion organization working at the intersections of climate, gender, and racial justice in alignment with the necessary transition to a circular economy. Threading Change specializes in facilitating creative events, convening unlikely allies, and initiating valuable industry and citizen connections to co-create a fashion industry that is equitable, youth-driven, and climate-resilient. Sophia also dedicates her time to working as a Senior Corporate Campaigner at the award-winning environmental organization Canopy Planet, collaborating alongside the world's leading fashion and consumer packaged goods brands, and fiber producers to ensure that Ancient Endangered Forests are kept out of supply chains, with a robust focus on implementing Next Generation fiber solutions.
Stephane Plisson
Technical Manager for CEMEX, with over 25 years’ experience working in the Readymix and Aggregate divisions, in various part of the United Kingdom. Alongside the diverse functions of the job – including design optimisation, cost control, special products – Stephane has spent the last four years serving as the Company’s ambassador when it comes to circular economy, promoting the use of recycled aggregate in the region and supporting others with expertise in the field
Sue Jefferson
Sue has over 30 years' experience working across various areas of sustainability, mostly related to the built environment. Her expertise spans resource efficiency, low carbon buildings and products, lean construction, renewable energy technologies and sustainable communities, gained in the UK and overseas. Most recently, she has been involved in high profile, collaborative projects across the UK, EU and internationally. Technically, Sue has over 25 years' experience delivering tools and solutions for achieving a better built environment, including developing sustainability standards at building and community level, working closely with multiple stakeholders across a range of priority areas for improvement. Sue brings extensive experience in resources and waste management, and for the last five years has focused on supporting the transition from a linear to a circular economy. A key part of this work has been heading up Circular Malton and Norton, a place based initiative engaging local people and businesses in adopting circular economy principles, driving practical change and shifting attitudes at community level. Her work reflects a long standing commitment to embedding sustainability into how the built environment is designed, constructed and managed, helping organisations and communities move toward more resource efficient, low carbon and circular ways of working.
Venetia Flint
As Circular Procurement Lead at Material Index, Venetia aids architects, designers, and project teams in specifying second-hand materials through their reclaimed marketplace of over 300 trade partners. With experience as Sustainability Lead for an interior architectural practice, specialising in commercial office fit-outs, and a degree in Real Estate Management, Venetia champions responsible material sourcing, circular economy principles, and supply chain transparency.
Wayne Hubbard
Wayne has worked at the heart of the waste and circular economy landscape across local, regional and national government, in finance, and in communities for 30+ years. As a former CEO of ReLondon, Wayne is particularly known for playing a pivotal role in influencing London’s waste and circular economy policy direction through a series of innovative ideas such as circular economy statements, the Circular Economy Roadmap and Circular Economy business support. Wayne joins Circular Economy Collage's event to share some practical insights for SMEs looking to build their own roadmap to a more circular economy.