Pragmatically Speaking: GreenBiz 2026

GreenBiz, Scope 3 & The Supply Chain Question We’re Not Asking

Last week I attended the GreenBiz conference in Arizona, representing The Furniture X-Change (TFX). We weren’t exhibiting, more just there to listen, to understand where corporate sustainability stands today and where it’s heading next.

Last year’s conference came immediately after a change in administration and, let’s just say, the mood was heavy. There was uncertainty, frustration, even real concern about whether climate momentum would stall. The energy in the room reflected a fear that progress might unravel.

This year felt different.

Not optimistic, but steadier. More pragmatic. The conversation shifted from reaction to resilience. It was less “What just happened?” and more, how do we protect what’s been built, navigate the next few years responsibly, and be positioned to accelerate on the other side?

That shift tells you sustainability isn’t going anywhere.

The EU Effect: Circularity at Scale

One of the clearest signals of that came from companies with large European footprints. EU regulations continue to tighten around circularity, reporting, and material accountability, and those standards are influencing global operations.

I listened to Mardi Ditze, Sustainability Manager of the U.S. at IKEA, as she spoke about the evolution of their “As-Is” program. Not as a discount bin, but as a lifecycle strategy. Customers bring products back. IKEA services, refurbishes, and resells them. The objective is simple but powerful: challenge the perception that IKEA furniture is disposable.

That’s not marketing spin. That’s systems thinking. It’s not just about sustainability either, it’s consumer retention. Now, what’s got a better chance of getting attention with the C-Suite or Board of Directors, here’s our environmental strategy, or if we do this, we protect these consumers from looking at competitive brands and we keep them in house? And that’s exactly what IKEA is doing.

Then there was Bridgestone. They’ve produced tires for Formula One made from 100 percent recycled and renewable materials, including recycled rubber, historically one of the most difficult materials to process at scale. High performance motorsport is not a testing ground for compromise. It’s a proving ground for innovation.

These examples reinforce something important: the circular economy is no longer theoretical. It’s engineering driven. It’s performance based. And it’s being deployed in environments where failure is not an option.

From Theory to Accountability

Another dominant theme this year was regulation, specifically clarity. Standards are tightening. Definitions are sharpening. Scope 1, 2 and 3 are no longer abstract. They’re actionable.

There’s still debate around how to track emissions across complex supply chains. How to measure upstream and downstream impact. How to gather reliable data. But directionally, the trend is clear: responsibility is cascading outward.

Large corporations are being asked to account not just for what they directly manufacture, but for everything required for them to function. Raw materials. Suppliers. Logistics. Energy. End of life. Supply chain accountability is becoming the core narrative of sustainability reporting. And that’s where the conversation gets interesting.

The Question Beneath the Question

When a company like Bridgestone evaluates its supply chain impact, it examines rubber sourcing, manufacturing inputs, transport emissions, and performance standards.

But does it examine the infrastructure required to operate?

Does it measure the embodied carbon in its office environments?

In its fit outs?

In its furniture?

Do sustainability teams sit in refurbished workstations? Are procurement decisions for interior environments held to the same scrutiny as product inputs? Because if Scope 3 is truly about supply chain accountability, then everything in the supply chain counts, including the things we don’t traditionally categorize as “core business.”

Furniture is often treated as aesthetic. Secondary. Replaceable. It isn’t.

It is infrastructure.
It is embedded carbon.
It is material extraction.
It is landfill risk.
It is a measurable emissions decision.

Why This Matters to Our Industry

At The Furniture X-Change, we operate in a niche corner of a massive global ecosystem. On paper, we may shift only a decimal point in the broader commercial furniture landscape. We certainly won’t move the needle alone in a multinational impact report.

But that’s not the point.

The point is this:

If sustainability reporting is moving toward supply chain ownership, then our industry must be viewed through that same lens.

Every office relocation is a decision.
Every decommission is a fork in the road.
Every fit out is an emissions choice.

New vs. remanufactured.
Landfill vs. diversion.
Extraction vs. extension.

Those decisions compound across portfolios, across campuses, across global operations.

The future of sustainability won’t be built solely on breakthrough materials or high profile innovations. It will be built on thousands of operational decisions made inside buildings, often quietly, often without fanfare.

The question isn’t whether refurbished furniture will solve climate change.

The question is whether companies applying rigorous Scope 3 scrutiny to their supply chains are also applying that same scrutiny internally.

Because if Scope 3 is about ownership, ownership starts inside the building.

And the companies that understand that, the ones integrating circularity not just into products, but into operations, will be the ones ready to accelerate when the next wave of policy and capital aligns.

Adam Overell

COO, The Furniture X-Change