Licella Holdings Limited has made personnel changes to strengthen and expand its senior leadership team and board as it focuses on the global commercialisation of its pioneering Catalytic Hydrothermal Reactor (Cat-HTR) advanced recycling technology.
After 16 years as chief executive officer of Licella, Dr Len Humphreys, who is also company co-founder and co-inventor of the Cat-HTR platform, will move to the role of executive chairman, while the current managing director Alan Nicholl will assume the role of CEO, effective from 1 September 2023.
Nicholl joined Licella in April 2022 and recently vacated his position of president and CEO of Arbios Biotech, Licella’s joint venture with Canfor, one of the world’s largest forestry producers.
Alongside his new role as executive chairman, Humphreys will drive pre-commercial technology innovation for Licella, including advanced biofuels and developing high-value biomaterial product applications.
Humphreys commented, “We have seen the interest in our Cat-HTR platform surge in the last 18 months, and this reflects the significant technological advances Licella have made.
“I’m delighted to step into the role of executive chairman at a time when both the Arbios plant in Canada and Mura plant in the UK are approaching construction completion while welcoming Alan to take the lead on the commercial strategy.
“Alan and I will continue to work together closely to capitalise on this extraordinary opportunity for Licella.”
Nicholl added, “As the world drives towards net zero carbon, we continue to be excited about the unprecedented opportunity for our proprietary Cat-HTR platform to deliver global impact, particularly for bio-based product applications producing such upgraded products as sustainable aviation fuel.”
The Company continues to progress in planning for the first of what it expects will be several advanced recycling plants in ANZ at Altona, Victoria.
The Company has also developed a high-quality, stable biocrude from post-consumer biomass which lends itself via upgrading to high-value and sought-after renewable transportation fuel and biochemical applications.
Licella has also appointed Don DeFosset to its board as a non-executive director.
DeFosset also serves on the executive board of ATL Partners/MidOcean Partners, a New York-based private equity firm focused on the aviation and transportation industries, as well as ITT Corporation and Terex Corporation, both publicly traded companies.
Moreover, Licella has appointed Victoria Sherwood to the newly created role of executive general manager for Asia and Australasia.
Sherwood brings a wealth of experience in senior leadership roles across engineering and manufacturing-based companies, most recently at iQ Renew and Boral, that will be essential for Licella to commercialise its Cat-HTR platform for plastic and biomass across this crucial region.
