Materials are the fundamental DNA of architecture; they define its visible identity, and as such, its true value for people and the planet. Different material choices profoundly affect the overall construction carbon footprint, the sustainability of the supply chain associated with the construction industry, the sense of place and belonging that our cities provide for their inhabitants, and the ethical practices associated with sourcing and manufacturing them. By carefully choosing best practices and sustainable materials rooted in a place’s culture and identity, we ensure our buildings contribute to society and improve our environmental impact.

Session Learnings:

• How material choices contribute to the carbon impact of the construction industry (material type, origin, weight, efficiency)
• How materiality has a story of the place to tell, and links to people’s spaces and their identities
• How can we design and engineer buildings for maximum efficiency, ensuring they’re used to benefit from their best properties (for example, in structural engineering), and in the right quantities, avoiding unnecessary carbon budgets

Post-Event Actions:

• More conscious, embodied carbon-informed procurement process for delegates responsible for making decisions on construction projects.
• By understanding how materials link to a place’s heritage, delegates will be able to select, propose and prioritise the regeneration and adaptive reuse projects in the city.
• Spearheading low-carbon and biogenic materials in innovative, demonstrative projects that pave the way for code changes and the introduction of new structural and architectural materials.

Asia sits at the heart of global textile production and is now a hotspot for bio‑based fibres, textile‑to‑textile recycling, and low‑impact dye technologies. This panel brings together an Asia‑based brand, regional materials innovators, and The Mills Fabrica to explore how collaboration across the value chain is turning the region into a testbed for the next generation of materials.

Session Learnings:

• Innovation is moving from ideas to workable systems – exploring how new fibre and processing approaches can be integrated across design, sourcing, and production realities.
• Regional partnerships accelerate adoption of lower-impact textiles – the session highlights how sharing expertise and developing joint solutions can reduce barriers to implementation.
• Next-generation materials require collective problem-solving – the panel will emphasise that breakthroughs in materials must be matched with compatible processes, partnerships, and end-to-end commitment to make impact measurable.

Post-Event Actions:

• Revisit your organisation’s impact goals and select one area to act on next (bio-based fibres, textile-to-textile recycling, or low-impact dye/finishing).
• Save and share the key takeaways from the session internally (with sustainability, sourcing, and product teams) to build alignment on priorities.
• Look for collaboration opportunities by identifying where you can contribute (materials, processing, buying power, or testing capacity) and who you could partner with.

Achieving a systematic transition to lower carbon emissions – by extending product lifecycles, recovering waste, and optimizing resources – demands more than technological advancement. It requires design thinking, behavioral incentives, and active community engagement to connect every actor directly to climate goals.

This session brings together designers, tech innovators, corporate ESG leaders, and community practitioners to address a central challenge: how to transform “carbon circularity” from an abstract concept into tangible, scalable action through innovative design, accessible technology, and behavioral change.

Session learnings:

A new language for climate conversations. Learn to explain the real connection between carbon capture and the circular economy in terms that resonate – not in the language of IPCC reports, but in narratives that move people, whether you are speaking to colleagues, clients, or students.

• On-the-ground practices already happening. Gain insight into innovations across the design end (building products that inherently support circularity), the production end (translating ESG commitments into tangible products and services), and the consumption end (how low-cost behavioral nudges are reshaping habits).
• A clearer map of where the real opportunities lie. Identify genuine pain points and unmet needs in circular economy innovation – including where technology costs have already dropped low enough to act, and where the barriers to behavioral change can actually be designed away.
• The connection you are missing. Whether you bring technology, capital, distribution channels, or user insight, you will have the opportunity to meet a complementary partner and make an initial connection before leaving the room.

Post-event Actions:

This is not a conversation about what the future should look like – it is a conversation about what is already happening and what is still missing. Different participants will leave with different entry points:

• Corporate ESG / Sustainability leaders: Integrate circular design principles into the evaluation framework for the next product development or procurement cycle.
• Designers / Innovation teams: Re-examine a current project’s material or process decisions through the lens of carbon circularity.
• Community practitioners / NGOs: Draw on behavioral incentive tools shared in the session to design or strengthen community-level climate action programs.
• Investors / Financial institutions: Identify potential investment targets or partners with a compelling circular economy narrative, and establish initial contact with innovators on the ground.

While the Government has expanded the local recycling network, achieving a truly circular economy requires deep integration between policy, private innovation, and community participation. This session explores how government policies, innovations and technologies such as AI-driven tools from the public sector and public perception can be further enhanced to optimize collection efficiency.

Beyond collection, the panel will examine the commercial viability of existing facilities, such as the recent additions of paper and vehicle batteries facilities, and identify the regulatory frameworks needed to sustain the momentum in resource recovery. By bridging the gap between government mandates and private sector operational expertise, there a clear opportunity to transform waste management from a service into a robust resource recovery industry. Our experts will discuss how cross-sector partnerships can unlock new value chains, ensuring Hong Kong’s sustainability goals are both technologically advanced and economically resilient.

Session Learnings:

• Understand how government policies and private sector operations can align to create a seamless, city-wide collection infrastructure.
• Learn how to resource recovery can be a sustaining commercial industry
• Gain insights into the upcoming legislative frameworks to support long-term success of recycling facilities.
• Identify opportunities for government, business and the public can co-develop innovative solutions for Hong Kong’s unique urban waste challenges.

Post-Event Actions:

• Insights into establishing a framework for all parties involved.
• Tools for communicating the economic and environmental rewards of advanced resource recovery to internal boards and external community partners.
• Actions that can be taken to collaboratively move the resource recovery movement forward in the short term.

Hong Kong is entering a transformative era where waste management evolves from a municipal necessity into a high-value growth sector. By leveraging the city’s unique “Super-Connector” status, this session explores the immense commercial opportunities emerging at the intersection of national-level plans, local government policy, and the unique yet pivotal role Hong Kong plays.

Our panel, comprising government officials and multi-industry business leaders, will examine successful waste management models from beyond our borders to identify transferable innovations in policy and technology. By fostering knowledge exchange and collaboration, the discussion will focus on how businesses can capitalize on regional synergies to drive large-scale impacts in resource recovery. We will explore how Hong Kong can bypass long-standing hurdles, aligning our local expertise with those beyond our borders to build a world-class sustainability hub.

Session Learnings:

• Identify specific, successful waste management and circular economy models from beyond our borders that can be adapted to Hong Kong’s high-density urban environment.
• Gain insights into how Hong Kong’s regulatory framework is evolving to better harmonize with regional standards, facilitating smoother cross-border collaboration.
• Understand how leveraging Hong Kong’s “Super-Connector” status can help businesses attract green investment by serving as a gateway to regional sustainability projects.
• Discover established platforms and informal channels for ongoing knowledge exchange between Hong Kong industry leaders and their regional counterparts.

Post-Event Actions:

• Facilitate organizations to identify opportunities presented to Hong Kong’s waste management and resource recovery industry.
• Familiarize with the waste management best practices currently being conducted in the neighbouring regions for the benefits in Hong Kong.
• Sustainability and resource recovery opportunities are everywhere, look into our neighbouring regions for innovations and inspirations.

Hong Kong government has created the legal framework necessary to roll out ‘producer responsibility schemes’ to cover the collection and recycling used packaging and products at the end of life. The first to roll out is beverage packaging including plastic bottles and drink cartons. What can we learn from the high recycling rates for paper and metal in Hong Kong? How did we achieve this? Can we successfully expand existing networks to collect other materials? What can we learn from other economies? Who pays? 

Session Learnings:

• Which recycling models succeed in dense Asian communities? How do they differ from European models? 

• How do Asian cities leverage their extensive networks of cleaners in collecting recyclables? 

• How to facilitate separation and sorting along the route from consumer to processors? 

• How to adapt and grow recycling systems to include ever more items, including different types of plastics? 

Post-Event Actions: 

• Ways in which property managers can support residents and cleaners with recycling  

• Policy makers to recognize and support cleaners with their recycling work 

• Producers and recyclers to work closely with property managers and cleaners 

With increasing awareness on the reduction of Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions, and business demands for decarbonised products, procurement plays a vital role in contributing to carbon reduction through embedding carbon reduction goals into sourcing and procurement decisions. This panel explores strategies for embedding carbon-reduction criteria into supplier selection, contracts, KPIs, and cost models. Speakers will share their experience in measuring and reducing carbon emissions across multi-tier networks, balancing carbon reduction targets with cost and delivery performance, and engaging suppliers to build low-carbon supply chains.

Session Learnings:

• How to incorporate carbon reduction targets into supplier evaluation, contracts, and scorecards without eroding competitiveness
• Approaches to measure and manage Scope 3 emissions in complex supply networks
• Strategies to balance carbon reduction goals with traditional procurement priorities such as cost, quality, and lead time
• Engaging and supporting multi-tier suppliers in decarbonization efforts
• Experience sharing on practical applications.

When discussing sustainable supply chains, the focus is often on environmental issues (such as Scope 3 emissions reductions and plastic reduction initiatives within the supply chain). However, environmental issues are invariably linked to human activity; human activity impacts the environment, and the state of the environment, in turn, affects people. In this session, the sustainable supply chain perspective focuses on social issues, exploring how supply chain activities affect workers, communities and consumers. This is what is often referred to as ‘social sustainability’, and it is a crucial component of the three bottom lines that is closely intertwined with economic and environmental considerations.

Session Learnings:

• Sustainable supply chains are not solely about environmental issues; social issues cannot be overlooked.
• Which social issues require attention
• The potential risks and opportunities that social issues within the supply chain present to businesses and investors
• Business practices in addressing social issues from the perspective of sustainable supply chains

Post-Event Actions:

• Re-establish the equal importance of social and environmental issues within the context of sustainable supply chains within the organisation
• Examine potential social issues from the perspective of sustainable supply chains within the organisation, as well as their significance and associated risks
• How to integrate social and environmental issues as a unified whole into the strategies and practices of sustainable supply chain management

The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) has increased the urgency for businesses to strengthen social and environmental due diligence, with the main obligations expected to apply from 26 July 2029. Companies that supply, source for, or trade with businesses linked to the EU market may soon face growing expectations to demonstrate robust ESG risk management. This will bring greater scrutiny of supply chain risks and stronger pressure to show credible action and measurable progress, with implications across global supply chains and particularly for businesses in Asia.

But due diligence is no longer only about compliance. It is becoming a driver of customer relationships, sourcing decisions, supplier performance, business continuity and competitiveness. This session will explore how businesses can move beyond reactive compliance and build practical due diligence systems, drawing on tools such as risk assessment, supplier engagement, audit insights, grievance mechanisms and improvement plans.

Session Learnings:

• To understand how the CSDDD and other due diligence developments in Asia may affect business operations and supply chain expectations.
• To learn how companies in Asia can build practical due diligence systems that support both regulatory compliance and commercial readiness
• To explore how risk assessment, supplier engagement, audit insights, grievance mechanisms and improvement plans can strengthen due diligence in practice.
• To gain insights from real-life examples on how practical tools can help businesses manage human rights and environmental risks with greater structure and credibility.

Post-Event Actions:

• Review whether the current operations and management approach are ready for rising due diligence expectations
• Identify where organisations may face risk exposure through customers, suppliers, sourcing offices or other business relationships
• Assess gaps in current due diligence processes, including risk assessment, supplier monitoring, grievance channels and improvement planning.
• Consider how amfori’s tools and services can support organisations in strengthening due diligence readiness and supply chain partnerships

As global resource scarcity and regulatory pressures intensify, transitioning from a linear “take-make-dispose” model to a circular economy is a strategic imperative. This panel explores how businesses across diverse sectors are revolutionizing their value chains to design out waste and keep materials in continuous use.

Expert panelists will dissect the systemic shifts required to create truly circular supply chains, regardless of the industry. The discussion begins with circular product design, prioritizing durability and material recovery. It then transitions to manufacturing and supply chain adaptations, highlighting how organizations are scaling reverse logistics, remanufacturing, and new business models. Finally, the panel addresses the infrastructure required for end-of-life recovery, examining cross-sector synergies and the role of policy in unlocking circular markets. Attendees will discover how systemic thinking and collaboration can harmonize economic growth with environmental regeneration.

Session Learnings:

• Implement Circular Design Strategies: Discover how to rethink product development to prioritize modularity, repairability, and the use of regenerative materials from the outset.
• Scale Innovative Business Models: Learn how to transition from traditional sales to product-as-a-service, leasing, and take-back programs that incentivize longevity and material recovery.
• Optimize Reverse Logistics: Understand the operational challenges and solutions for recovering products and materials at scale, enabling efficient remanufacturing and recycling.
• Leverage Cross-Sector Synergies: Gain insights into industrial symbiosis, where the waste or byproducts of one industry become valuable raw materials for another.

Post-Event Actions:

• Conduct a Circularity Audit: Assess current product lifecycles and supply chain operations to identify the most significant areas of material waste and linear dependency.
• Pilot a Circular Initiative: Launch a small-scale pilot project—such as a product take-back scheme, a transition to regenerative materials for a single product line, or an asset-as-a-service model—to test viability and gather data.
• Establish Cross-Functional Working Groups: Break down internal silos by forming a dedicated team comprising design, procurement, manufacturing, and sustainability leaders to embed circular principles from the earliest stages of product development.
• Initiate Ecosystem Partnerships: Identify and engage with at least one external partner (e.g., a reverse logistics provider, a material recovery facility, or a complementary industry player) to explore collaborative solutions for end-of-life material recovery.

Traditionally, the relationship between buyers and suppliers has tended to focus on price, cost, product quality, manufacturing processes and service.  As sustainability and ESG considerations are increasingly integrated into the supply chain (i.e. procurement and supplier relationships), procurement organisations must meet the sustainability expectations of their customers and various stakeholders. Beyond their own efforts, they must rely on the cooperation of suppliers to achieve overall sustainability objectives. However, supplier companies—particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)—often lack the necessary resources, experience and skills, and may have a limited awareness of sustainability, frequently viewing it as an additional, burdensome requirement imposed by clients. This session will explore how, from a sustainability perspective, procurement organisations can assist and empower suppliers to go beyond merely meeting basic requirements, enabling them to achieve self-improvement, growth, and even business expansion, whilst fostering positive, long-term procurement-supplier relationships.

Session Learnings:

•  The gradual integration of sustainability into procurement and supply chain relationships, and the dilemmas and challenges faced by both procurement and supplier organisations
• The blind spots and pain points encountered by supplier organisations—particularly small and medium-sized enterprises—in addressing purchasers’ sustainability requirements
• Exploring different methods and approaches to drive supplier progress and business growth from a sustainability perspective

Post-Event Actions:

• Re-evaluate the role of sustainability factors in procurement considerations
• Explore and implement various approaches to enhance suppliers’ awareness and capabilities regarding sustainability
• A clash of perspectives and a shift in mindset: creating long-term value versus cost considerations