Do you want to move forward? Then you must meet two conditions: a clear goal and all noses in the same direction. In order to realize this ambition Ekopak Sustainable Water uses strong oars. Meet our management and board of directors.
Management
Pieter Loose
CEO
Mr. Pieter Loose started his career at Hertel Services, an industrial service provider in the fields of scaffolding construction, sheeting, rope access, insulation, electrical and steam tracing (now part of Altrad Services Benelux, part of the Altrad Group), as a project manager (2005 – 2007) and as technical director (2007-2010). In 2010 Pieter Loose left Hertel Services and started working for Ekopak as sales engineer. In 2013 Pieter Loose acquired Ekopak and became its CEO. Since 2019, Pieter Loose is also vice-chair of Watercircle, an interest group for water technology companies in Belgium.
Pieter has over 15 years of experience in the industrial engineering industry and holds a Degree in Industrial civil Engineering from the Hogeschool Ghent (KU Leuven).
Els De Keukelaere
CFO
Ms. Els De Keukelaere has more than 20 years of expercience in financial auditing. Prior to joining Ekopak in October 2020 as Chief Financial Officer, she was leading multinational audits as a representative of KPMG. Els was audit leader in KPMG’s regional office in Ghent and was also active as instructor in internal KPMG training programs as well as in recruiting and business development. Between 2014 and 2016, Els was Chief Financial Officer at Concordia NV, an insurance broker located in Ghent, and member of the Supervisory Board at Concordia De Keizer B.V. in Rotterdam.
Els holds a Master in Applied Economics from the University of Ghent, as well as an MBA in Financial Management from Vlerick Management School and is a Registered Accountant since 2004.
Tim De Maet
COO
Mr. Tim De Maet has 15 years of experience in the water solutions industry. Before joining Ekopak, Tim worked as a project engineer at Entaco NV where he designed a wastewater recuperation system for car-washes and as a technical sales engineer at Micron NV where he designed and quoted industrial water purification solutions. In 2011 Tim joined Ekopak as Operations Manager and was promoted to Chief Operation Officer in 2020.
Tim holds a Degree in Industrial Engineering Chemistry (specialization: environmental biotechnology) from the Hogeschool Ghent.
Joost Van Der Spurt
CTO
Mr. Joost Van der Spurt has 8 years of experience in the water industry, focusing on process management, research and development, as well as automation, and is with Ekopak since the launch of the company’s own production line seven years ago. Before joining Ekopak, Joost worked at the University of Leuven. In cooperation with Eastman Ghent North, he was responsible for the purification of an ammonium rich product stream used in agriculture.
Joost holds a Master in Chemical Engineering from the University of Leuven.
Niels D’Haese
CCO
Mr. Niels D’Haese has 14 years of experience in industrial and municipal water treatment in different positions. He started his professional career in 2008 as project consultant at Epas, part of the consultancy division of Veolia. Since 2012 Niels held different commercial roles within Suez in the Benelux and international. After his position as General Manager of the water division at DEME Environmental Contractors, Niels joined Ekopak mid 2021. Since the beginning of 2022 Niels holds the role of Chief Commercial Officer at Ekopak.
Niels holds a Master degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Ghent.
Lieve Delrue
HR Director – People & Culture
Lieve joined Ekopak in May 2022 as HR Director (member of the EMC since January 2023). Previous experience in international HR roles within the water industry and European companies, including Waterleau Group, SKF Belgium and Panasonic Energy Europe.
She has a Master in Psychology, option Industrial & Organisational Psychology (KU Leuven, Leuven University)
Franky Cosaert
CEO Ekopak France
Chief Executive Officer Ekopak France since November 2022. He has more than 25 years of national and international experience in the energy- and water sector as General Manager Gaz de France Belux, Senior Vice President Marketing & Sales Europe at Engie, President LNG China at Engie and 7 years CEO at water-link.
Uli Ombregt
CEO Global Water & Energy
Chief Executive Officer Global Water & Energy (GWE), who joined the executive management committee since 14 September 2023 following the acquisition of GWE. Degree in Environmental Technology and a Master’s degree in Applied Economics at the University of Ghent. Uli has over 20 years of experience in the wastewater solutions industry and has executed various roles within GWE.
Board of Directors
Pieter Loose
Executive director
Mr. Pieter Loose started his career at Hertel Services, an industrial service provider in the fields of scaffolding construction, sheeting, rope access, insulation, electrical and steam tracing (now part of Altrad Services Benelux, part of the Altrad Group), as a project manager (2005 – 2007) and as technical director (2007-2010). In 2010 Pieter Loose left Hertel Services and started working for Ekopak as sales engineer. In 2013 Pieter Loose acquired Ekopak and became its CEO. Since 2019, Pieter Loose is also vice-chair of Watercircle, an interest group for water technology companies in Belgium.
Pieter has over 15 years of experience in the industrial engineering industry and holds a Degree in Industrial civil Engineering from the Hogeschool Ghent (KU Leuven).
Tim De Maet
Executive director
Mr. Tim De Maet has 15 years of experience in the water solutions industry. Before joining Ekopak, Tim worked as a project engineer at Entaco NV where he designed a wastewater recuperation system for car-washes and as a technical sales engineer at Micron NV where he designed and quoted industrial water purification solutions. In 2011 Tim joined Ekopak as Operations Manager and was promoted to Chief Operation Officer in 2020.
Tim holds a Degree in Industrial Engineering Chemistry (specialization: environmental biotechnology) from the Hogeschool Ghent.
Pieter Bourgeois
Non-executive director / Chairperson of the Board of Directors
Mr. Pieter Bourgeois has almost 20 years of experience in different financial roles and responsibilities. Before joining Alychlo NV, he worked as Chief Financial Officer at DHL Express Luxembourg and YouBuild, focusing on M&A and strategic projects gaining business acumen in different sectors and different sizes of companies. He started his career as controller at Banksys and thereafter at Worldline. Pieter joined Alychlo NV in 2015 as investment manager and is now the CEO of Alychlo NV. He is also a board member of several of Alychlo NV’s portfolio companies. When Alychlo NV acquired 49.03% of the shares in Ekopak in 2019, Pieter joined the Board of Directors of Ekopak.
Pieter holds a Master in Electro-Mechanical Industrial Engineering from Groep T as well as an MBA from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics.
Nathalie Van Den Haute
Non-executive director
Investment principal Alychlo NV. Van Den Haute holds a master’s degree in Commercial Engineering, VUB, Solvay Business school, MBA in financial management (Vlerick Business School). Prior to joining Alychlo, Nathalie held various roles in the corporate finance department of KBC Securities; since 2019 she was head of the Equity Capital Market activity within the corporate finance team.
Els De Keukelaere
Executive director
Ms. Els De Keukelaere has more than 20 years of expercience in financial auditing. Prior to joining Ekopak in October 2020 as Chief Financial Officer, she was leading multinational audits as a representative of KPMG. Els was audit leader in KPMG’s regional office in Ghent and was also active as instructor in internal KPMG training programs as well as in recruiting and business development. Between 2014 and 2016, Els was Chief Financial Officer at Concordia NV, an insurance broker located in Ghent, and member of the Supervisory Board at Concordia De Keizer B.V. in Rotterdam.
Els holds a Master in Applied Economics from the University of Ghent, as well as an MBA in Financial Management from Vlerick Management School and is a Registered Accountant since 2004.
Kristina Loguinova
Independent director
Ms. Kristina Loguinova has a strong academic background, combining teaching and research in the field of financial law. After completing her doctoral study on Solvency II and the importance of ESG considerations for institutional investors, she provided consulting services to a broad range of financial companies on innovation. In 2020, Kristina left consulting to unite with the Operations Team and the ESG Committee of Value Square NV as a compliance officer. Outside of Value Square NV, she conducts research and teaches about the cross-sections of ESG, law and the financial sector (sustainable finance) at the Free University of Brussels. Kristina is often invited as a speaker or expert on sustainability. Kristina joined Ekopak as an independent director in 2021.
Kristina holds a Master of Laws from the Free University of Brussels as well as PhD in financial law from the same university.
Regine Slagmulder
Independent director
Prof. dr. ir. Regine Slagmulder is professor in accounting & control at Vlerick Business School. Previously, she was a professor at INSEAD (France & Singapore) and Tilburg University (The Netherlands), and also worked for McKinsey & Company’s strategy practice. Her research and teaching work lies within the area of risk & performance management, company strategy, and board effectiveness. She is a non-executive director and audit committee chair of the Belgium-based investment company Quest for Growth (since 2011) and of MDxHealth, a commercial-stage multinational healthcare company (since 2020), both listed on Euronext.
Regine graduated in electronic engineering and in management sciences from the University of Ghent, and holds a PhD in Management from Vlerick Business School and is certified director (INSEAD IDP-C). As part of her research activities, she was a research fellow at INSEAD, Boston University (USA), and the P. Drucker Graduate Management Center at Claremont University (USA).
Valerie Dejaeghere
Independent director
Ms. Valerie Dejaeghere holds a master’s degree in Applied Economics Sciences from KU Leuven and completed executive programs in Strategic Excellence and Sustainability Management from Columbia Business School and Vlerick Business School. She has years of experience at ExxonMobil in various national and international management positions in Europe and USA.
In 2022, she joined Qpinch where she became CEO in January 2023.