Key qualifications        As of November 2005, David Vertegaal assists clients in the industry and water sector working for his own consultancy firm, Praxus. Services rendered by Praxus are focused on project- and process management in the fields of sustainability and innovation.

                                       In his preceding position he was senior consultant in the field of industrial water management and cleaner production (CP) at KWA Business consultants at Amersfoort, Nl. KWA is a consultancy firm that renders technical and strategic services to her industrial clients.

At KWA, David Vertegaal has been responsible for a wide range of industrial environmental projects in The Netherlands and abroad varying from strategic feasibility studies, CP-implementation to process design and start-up of installations.
He has established a track record for handling challenging situations and can be further characterised as a pioneer and an innovator.

                                       Other related activities were various projects in the field of environmental legislation (a.o. permits negotiation with governments), energy and waste management, environmental audits and environmental management as well as integrated sustainability (sector) studies. Of special interest are numerous projects in the field of sustainable industrial estates that he has managed in this period. He has introduced CP- and industrial ecology solutions in a wide range of industries, is familiar with the impacts of legislation on industry and experienced in negotiations with governmental bodies and NGO's.

Specific foreign countries experience

·         Optimisation of integrated soil sanitation/storm water/process water plant at a stain­less steel manufacturer in Belgium, including the deve­lopment of a process control model (2003)

·         Integrated water, energy and waste audits:
Example: Auditing of 3 brewing companies and 3 liquor com­panies in Anhui, China, for CP best practice development, including training of Chinese CP-consultants in Nl and support in the design of a self assessment manual for these sectors, 2001-2002
Example: Auditing of 6 textile companies in Karachi and Lahore, Pakistan, 1997-2001/development of CP best practices/drawing up of sector strategy documents

·         Wastewater management and control course developed for the Mongolian wastewater authorities, (1997, held in the Netherlands)

·         Jamno Lake integrated water management project, Koszalin area, Poland (1995). IWRM project encompassing water quality improvements, design of potable and wastewater infrastructure, financial analysis, economic incentives

·         Waste management plan developed for the local authorities of Bohemia (1994)

Special projects (chronological)

·         Workshops applied creativity and product development for a Dutch producer of broiler systems (2006)

·         Development of a low-to-no-CO2 cement production process (2006)

·         Development of a biological fire retardant as alternative for halogen-based retardants for construction and micro-electronics (2005/2006)

·         Task force member of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs aimed at the improvement of innovation and export of the Dutch water sector expertise and products (2005)

·         As a part of iso 14001 implementation, the development of an extensive self assessment and benchmarking tool on water efficiency, com­plete with a library of CP best practice solutions for in-house water ma­nage­ment and treatment, for Coca-Cola Company and WWF inter­national. By now the system is implemented worldwide by Coca-Cola company at hundreds of bottlers' sites. CP methods ranged from cheap/ low com­plex (general good housekeeping instructions) to more compli­ca­ted measures such as process equipment changes (2003/2004)

·         development of a green field sustainable industrial estate for Food Valley Ede offering best practice facilities and investigating oppor­tunities for industrial eco-clusters (2004)

·         investigation into opportunities for value added reuse of waste fractions from beer production, e.g. as a sustainable feedstock for paper or cardboard making (2004)

·         extensive experience with management of complex projects, e.g. industrial co-operation projects within the framework of the Dutch programme for sustainable industrial estates, e.g. at Maastricht (1997-2001) and Helmond (1999-2004). Other projects were a.o. at Emmen, Cuijk and Eindhoven-Oost.
Example: in Maastricht, co-operation on (waste) water management has been put into practice with substantial ‘3P' savings as a result. The project resulted a.o. in the Nutrecycle^® patent for reuse of nitrogen from sludge digestion liquors. A simulation/decision support model was deve­l­oped comprising all 9 participating companies. The project received the 2002 Responsible Care Award from the branch organisation for the Dutch Chemical industry VNCI. The project has been nominated for the Stockholm water industry award 2004. KWA has filed a success­ful application for the EU Life-III programme for this project.

·         project management, piloting and design of process water and wastewater treatment plants for various industrial clients (a.o. food, textile processing, metal, mineral processing, paper processing, chemical industry) for removal of COD, N, P and/or micropollutants or water recuperation (1996-2005).
(continued on next page)

Example: in the abovementioned Helmond project, emissions and treatment system re­search revealed the best practice treatment method for colour removal. The method was ac­cepted by local authorities through a mediation/negotiation process lead by KWA to the satis­faction of all parties. A joint treatment plant serving 3 different com­panies is now being implemented. A comparable project was carried out for a large carpet manufacturer (1999-2004)

·         management of various projects on water efficiency, product loss and specific emissions in different industrial sectors. Development of co-product reuse solutions for cost cutting and emission reduction (1996–2004).
Example: Permit negotiations with local authority for the largest whey processing plant in the Netherlands. A study into the complex emis­sion system revealed an economic solu­tions for an imminent P-emissions problem (2004)
Example: investigation into the scope of salt emission problems in the Dutch industry, into market perspectives for recuperated salts and technical feasibility for typical salt water emission cases, for a consortium of 4 large Dutch chemical companies and VEMW, 1999-2001

·         development of a waste management model for a consortium of 4 large food industry companies, resulting in large operational cost savings (2003)

·         production of a sector paper for the sustainability footprint of the brick industry for WWF International (2002)

·         advisor for the world wide energy benchmark and national water benchmark for the Dutch brewery branch organisation CBK, 2001-2003

·         analyses of significance of environmental impacts according to iso 14001 at 3 textile mills, with the help of the KWA-developed Ecosig^® method. Design of environmental action programmes for these compa­nies based upon Ecosig^® analysis and legislative demands (1999/2000)

·         experience in feasibility studies and design for a number of plants for treatment of communal wastewater and potable water production (1993-1996)

·         lead engineer on several projects for surface water remediation in the Netherlands (1992-1996)

·         responsible for design and trouble shooting for water treatment at several large soil sanitation projects in The Netherlands (1994-1996)

Professional courses and training

·         Systematic technical innovation (a course in Triz, with Innoq, 2005)

·         Applied creativity and innovation (at COCD, 2006, www.cocd.org)

·         Project- and process management (Blom & Partners, 1997, 2000)

·         Account management and acquisition (various)

·        Sales and marketing (Nebib, 2006)

·        Business development (HAN, 2006)

·         Various courses in process water-, wastewater- groundwater- sludge
and solid waste management and treatment technologies

In 2005, I have started a study into innovation and sustainability management. The study programme has been composed to suit my personal needs, comprising a.o. of : the 4 phases of change and innovation / technical creativity / quality management and continuous improvement / sustainability, change & innovation / GRI guidelines.
Courses followed at Innoq and COCD are part of this study.

As from November 2005, the acquired knowledge is applied in my privately owned consultancy company, Praxus.