A Few Days in the Desert: Reflections from GreenBiz 2025
Arizona, to me, has always been about warm weather, rattlesnakes, and incredible outdoor activities (personally, the golf options are endless). But this week, it was home to a few thousand sustainability nerds—myself included. I recently spent a meaningful few days at GreenBiz 2025, listening, learning, and networking with like-minded professionals, all driven by common goals and, clearly, common challenges in the pursuit of sustainable business practices. Some key themes stood out:
Uncertainty—The recent administration change has left many professionals questioning what’s next, in terms of what we should do, must do and can do.
Catching up—We have a lot of ground to cover, both in keeping up with global sustainability execution and in the work needed to drive real change.
Clarity—Across industries, everyone is seeking clearer standards, definitions, and frameworks.
A Global Conversation
At GreenBiz 2025, I met people from all sectors and all over the world. For once, I wasn’t the odd one out—accents from the UK, Europe, and Asia filled the rooms. But despite our different backgrounds, our vision was the same. For me—and for TFX—this event was an invaluable opportunity to hear firsthand how professionals on the client side are also struggling with a lack of clarity. Standards are still evolving, terminology (especially around categorization like Scope 1, 2 and 3) is a moving target, and certifications remain a key differentiator but elusive in terms of what to prioritize.
A Powerful Reminder
On Tuesday, I listened to a presentation from Tom Chi, founding partner of At One Ventures (and a former founding member of Google X). His story about personally witnessing the changes in coral reef ecosystems hit home. He described it as “watching my neighbors and community die around me.” As an Australian who grew up within earshot of the Great Barrier Reef, this resonated—hard. I want my kids to experience the reef I knew, not the faded, monotone version we’ve somehow come to accept as “normal.”
The Role of Office Furniture in Sustainability
In the office furniture world, at TFX we handle decommissioning and liquidation of millions of square feet of office real estate and millions of pounds of furniture assets—assets that have the potential to cause lasting impact, either positive or negative, depending on how they are disposed of or hopefully reused. Historically, it’s been negative. But the tide is turning, and we need to start seeing smart and sustainable management of furniture assets as a means of making positive change, as well as good business sense. As our Founder often says: “An asset is an asset until it becomes a liability.”
Where Does Decommissioning Fit?
Going into the week, I kept thinking: How does TFX approach Scope 3? This is hard. What am I missing? Turns out, I’m not alone—we’re all learning and growing. Supply chains have upstream and downstream flows—materials, information, and value moving from suppliers to end consumers. But in decommissioning, where do we fit? Are we upstream or downstream? What we decommission ends up with our clients. On one side, I’m supplying; on the other, we need our clients to supply to us. Regardless, how do we enforce compliance and drive change? How do we calculate impact accurately, consistently, and in a way that creates real value?
TFX’s Unique Position
Running a business like TFX comes with its own challenges. We’re different, we’re unique—and that’s exactly what drew me to TFX after a decade in Corporate Operations and ESG. We operate in two worlds: Office furniture removal (decommissioning) and the other half of TFX, (Re)manufacturing and repurposing. This means Scope 3 impacts us far more than I even realized. Owning our own fleet of trucks gives our clients execution certainty and accountability, but it also adds to our own environmental impact. Changing the fabric on a cubicle panel requires me to put pressure on my supply chain. How can we make that better? How can we have a bigger net positive impact?
One thing is clear: our clients need reliable, accurate reporting on the decommission side, and on the remanufacture/resale side of our business, our clients need to be able to demonstrate why circular reuse solutions deliver multi-dimensional value to the planet and the bottom line. To quote one of the other presenters, Jane Abernethy (CSO @ Humanscale): “they’re the heroes” when they make the choice to spec remanufactured furniture over new. It’s not just cost and time that drive decisions anymore; cost, time and sustainability all carry weight, and if they don’t – they should.
What’s Next?
It’s not lost on me that change needs to happen. But the week reaffirmed that we’re not in this alone. The conversations, the challenges, and the collective urgency at GreenBiz 2025 made one thing clear:
We have work to do.
We have to lean in and lean on each other.
Aligning with the right partners is the key.
GreenBiz 2025 re-energized my thinking about what is important and what is essential. For me I want TFX to be positioned bi-directionally in the supply chain as a partner that brings value, reliability, cost effectiveness, and sustainable certainty to managing office assets for our clients for years to come.
Adam Overell
COO and Head of Sustainability