Waste: The Raw Material of The Future

03 Feb 2026
Main Stage

Award-winning journalist, comms strategist and author of Wasted: When Trash Becomes Treasure (Ludion), Katie Treggiden, will take to the Surface Design Show Main Stage with an insightful perspective on waste—the idea that it's not a fact, but merely a category. If we can categorise used objects and materials as waste, surely we can recategorise them as exciting new raw materials. She will then chair a lively debate with panellists, Lay Koon Tan, Dean Connell, Izzy Kelly and Sara Howard*, exploring whether waste is indeed the raw material of the future or whether creating new demand for waste streams is part of the problem.

Keynote
Katie Treggiden
Katie Treggiden, Author, Journalist & Comms Strategist
Panelist
Dean Connell
Dean Connell, Creative Director - I-AM.D.C
Emer Gillespie
Emer Gillespie, Founder - Spark & Bell
Izzy Kelly
Izzy Kelly, Furniture Designer & Creator - Fallen Furniture
Sara Howard
Sara Howard, Circular Ceramic Designer - Sara Howard Studio