Averda, the leading end-to-end waste management, treatment and recycling company in emerging markets, is pleased to announce the appointment of Samer Kamal as the company’s inaugural Chief Sustainability Officer.
This new C-Suite position is created to accelerate Averda’s ‘Renew24’ corporate strategy, which sees the company focus even further on sustainability and circularity, with the goal of reducing waste to landfill, deriving secondary value from collected waste and helping companies and governments with their net-zero targets.
Samer holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto in Pharmacology & Toxicology. He is well respected in the waste management industry and is an established regional thought leader on the future of sustainability in business. Samer brings to Averda a wealth of relevant experience, having founded Bee’ah in 2006 before spending five years as its Managing Director. Samer has also worked on numerous other sustainable ventures across North America, the Middle East and Africa over the past 20 years, including advising New York University, Air Miles and Nestle in aligning their commercial aspirations with their responsibility to society and the planet. He has been an investor and adviser to several environmental start-ups and private equity funds, supporting waste strategy and sustainability initiatives, as well as developing several waste and wastewater treatment facilities – most recently a PET recycling venture in Abu Dhabi with Veolia Middle East.
Samer Kamal commented: “I am very pleased to be joining the Averda team as their Chief Sustainability Officer. It’s a pivotal moment for the industry and the company as we navigate the changing role of the waste sector in light of global governmental and corporate climate commitments, shifting consumer expectations, and the clear need for climate action in the emerging markets in which Averda operates. The countries where Averda works are disproportionately exposed to the impacts of climate change and Averda has embraced the exciting mandate to become a leader in delivering sustainable waste management solutions.”
Malek Sukkar, CEO, said: “I’m thrilled to welcome Samer to Averda, and to our senior leadership team. Samer’s experience and approach make him an excellent choice to drive our transformation towards more sustainable products and technologies, and to support our customers with innovative sustainable initiatives which will have a positive and lasting impact on the environment. Samer will lead on bringing sustainable and impact thinking to the forefront of our corporate culture, and to the way we will execute. As an experienced leader, he will add depth to our executive core at a time when the company is poised for serious growth.”
ENDS
A new Averda waste management facility for King Abdullah University of Science and Technology is designed to reach zero-waste operations by 2025, making the university the first zero-waste institution in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Commercial scale municipal waste to renewable methanol plant in the Middle East announced during COP27.
Better sourcing and deploying technology can ease some of that pressure.