EXPERIENCE & STRONG FAMILY VALUES

The Klean Team Board of Directors is steering the company into a bright future. Our member-elected Board of Directors works hard to represent the best interests of our shareholders. Our board of directors believes that it is important to have regular and constructive engagement directly with shareholders to allow and encourage shareholders to express their views on governance and other matters directly to the board outside of the annual meeting. The board also encourages shareholders to participate at our annual meetings and to contact our independent directors through the office of the Chairman.

The Board has extensive experience in both building and running companies of all shapes and sizes. Klean Industries currently has a five-member Board of Directors that sets high standards for the company's employees, officers, and directors.

Implicit in this philosophy is the importance of sound corporate governance and responsibility. It is the duty of the Board to serve as a prudent fiduciary for shareholders and to oversee the management of the company's business. 

  • James Klinkhamer Chairman & Chief Logistics Officer
    James Klinkhamer

    Mr. James Klinkhamer is a Director and is the Chief Logistics Officer in charge of sustainable logistics for Klean. Jim has over 40 years of experience in the logistics industry. Jim manages logistics, customer quotations, contractual agreements from receipt of inquiry through to order acquisition until receipt of the customer's payment. 

    Prior to joining Klean, Jim was a senior executive at Westrim Express Lines an international transportation company that was bought out by Can-Am in 2008. In this role, he was responsible for sales, company logistics, contractual agreements, and supply chain economics. Jim has handled a number of specialized shipments working directly with prime contractors from the oil fields to entertainment parks. 

    Jim understands that now more than ever it is important to focus on excellence in the management of the supply chain. Companies can make excellent products, they can run brilliant marketing campaigns, but the performance of the supply chain can make the difference between delighting and disappointing the customer. Companies all around the world are struggling with falling demand for their products, and tightening of the financial markets, so the pressure to cut costs is intense. In such an environment, the spotlight is firmly on supply chain professionals to deliver improved performance and, at the same time, do it more cost-effectively with a small environmental footprint and this is where Jim excels. 

    Jim entered the logistics industry in 1974 and has served several different operational roles. Jim graduated from the Business Management Certificate Program. Jim is also the father of Jesse the company's CEO.

  • Jesse Klinkhamer Chief Executive Officer & Founder
    Jesse Klinkhamer

    Mr. Jesse Klinkhamer is the driving force and original founder of Klean Industries and has over 30 years of business development experience, over 10 years of experience in the resources and energy industry with 20 years in the solid waste management sector specializing in projects that utilize pyrolysis and gasification technologies to convert waste into value. He is a leading voice on the low carbon, circular economy, and the goal of zero waste to landfill; and has become a recognized authority in the emerging tire pyrolysis and recovered carbon black sector.

    Jesse has traveled the globe working on various projects and has managed more than a thousand assignments worldwide dealing with all aspects of energy production, resources, and solid waste management ranging from feasibility and financial assessment to bid evaluation and contract negotiation. He is now a recognized authority on energy, resource recovery, and environmental technologies, including their applications and product sales markets. 

    Prior to Klean Industries, Jesse was the founder of Solid State Investments, a private investment firm assisting junior resource mining and technology start-up companies. Additionally, he also provided sales and marketing services to resource companies involved in hydrocarbon exploration and refining in North America. Over a decade ago Jesse realized the potential of the low carbon economy and facilitated the change of SSI's focus to become a financial service provider for niche cleantech companies. After years of research and development, Jesse sought out the best and most commercially proven technologies available in the market, which led to the creation of Klean Industries and the ownership of several of the world's leading gasification and pyrolysis technologies. Jesse has extensive experience in the development of resource recovery and energy from waste projects from the initial feasibility to commercial operation and ongoing project monitoring. 

    Jesse has a real depth of knowledge in the advanced thermal conversion technology space and has directed engineers' feasibility reports for a wide variety of energy-related projects totaling more than $20 billion in project capital costs. He has interacted with bond rating agencies, financial advisors, insurance underwriters, and investment bankers involved in these financings. His efforts have included the development of detailed spreadsheet rate models establishing the financial feasibility of each project, long-term economic forecasts, and projected rate impact upon project users and customers alike. 

    Jesse's expertise and knowledge within the industry have led to many awards and nominations, most notably being made Environmental Ambassador for the United Nations Environmental Programme. He is frequently requested to speak at clean technology and environmental conferences worldwide. Jesse is a long-standing member of ASTM International ("ASTM") and is an active voting member of the technical committees ASTM D24 for Carbon Black and ASTM D36 for Recovered Carbon Black which are key technical committees setting the international standards for Carbon Black, Recovered Carbon Black. Jesse is a passionate environmentalist and outdoor enthusiast.

  • Rainer Dippold Director of Engineering
    Rainer Dippold

    Mr. Rainer Dippold joined the KleanTeam in 2022, further reinforcing the strong working relationship Klean has had with Niersberger for the past decade. He is a qualified industrial clerk with a degree in business administration. In industry, he worked for nine years in central procurement.

    Rainer then worked for four years as managing director of a steel construction company before joining Niersberger. He has now been employed there for more than 40 years as a managing partner in residential and plant construction.

    The Niersberger Group is an internationally active company with approximately 450 employees and a turnover of more than € 100 million. The spectrum includes the residential and facilities both as a planner and as a general contractor.

    Rainer and the Niersberger Team were instrumental in the design and engineering of Klean’s wholly-owned tire pyrolysis technology. Rainer led the engineering team for the Germanization of the technology which is operated at the ReOil Sp. z o.o facility in Bukowno, Poland at a scale of 20,000 metric tonnes per year. Klean’s technology is now known as the most successful continuous tire pyrolysis plant in Europe focused on recovered carbon black production.

    Among many other projects, solar power plants, biomethane, and pyrolysis plants are planned, built, and operated by Niersberger. Extensive references confirm the performance strength of the Niersberger Group of companies.

    The Group, with eight operating companies, is majority-owned by BSG Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, the family office of the Dippold family, whose managing director is Rainer Dippold.

  • Judi Morris Director of Administration
    Judi Morris

    Ms. Judi Morris joined Klean Industries at the start of 2018 handling administration duty and as Sales Representative. She has skillfully guided new customers and project developers through Klean’s Customer Management Process, preparing Detailed Equipment Quotation services, and following up with all incoming sales both new and old.

    Prior to joining the Klean Team, she worked at the Judicial Justice Centre for 14 years where she attained her Justice of the Peace commission in 2008. She was an integral part of the staff and deemed the go-to person for her vast experience and knowledge of the Criminal Justice System, her leadership skills, and mentoring of new staff.

    She began her career as a civil servant in 1996 for the Provincial Court of British Columbia by starting at the Port Coquitlam Courthouse and also worked at the Maple Ridge Courthouse, operating across multiple disciplines and being respectful of the diverse audiences she engaged with during that time.

    She also gained knowledge in accounts receivables and receptionist duties working as an after-school worker which transitioned full-time for a law office in Burnaby, BC beginning in 1989.  

  • Marc Schwarzlose Director of Project Development
    Marc Schwarzlose

    Marc Schwarzlose has over 20 years of experience in the aviation and energy sector. He holds a Master´s degree in business administration as well as an Airline Transport Pilot license. Having worked as a Managing director for companies in the energy sector he was instrumental in setting up a project for the construction of a CIGS solar module manufacturing plant in Germany.

    In 2011 Mr. Schwarzlose became the Co-founder and COO of CRR Carbon Resources Recovery which completed a JV with ReOil Sp. z o.ol in 2014 and managed the construction of CRR´s continuous tire pyrolysis plant in Bukowno, Poland which was completed in 2016 with an installed capacity of 20,000 metric tonnes per year. CRR and the intellectual property and know-how of CRR were acquired by Klean Industries in 2019.