Piet Van Zyl has been appointed Chief Regenerative Officer at Selo Group
Selo Group, an award-winning and fully integrated development company based in Singapore, announced the appointment of Piet Van Zyl as chief regenerative officer. Drawing on his wealth of experience with regenerative travel and zero waste projects for hotels and islands, Van Zyl will enhance Selo's existing regenerative initiatives and implement new company-wide programs for its projects in Lombok, Sumatra Indonesia, and Tioman Island in Malaysia.
"Piet has been a pioneer when it comes to sustainability and zero waste initiatives for the hospitality industry, so we know he will lead Selo in a progressive direction and enrich our eco-friendly plans," said Andrew Corkery, Selo Group's CEO. "He is an innovative, future-oriented thinker with a clear passion for the environment and making a positive impact on our world through accessible practices."
Originally from South Africa, Van Zyl has been a hospitality and sustainability practitioner since 1993 with a focus on energy, water and waste evaluations and optimization, standards audit, and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing reviews.
Van Zyl previously worked as group director of engineering and sustainability for Alila Hotels and Resorts for six years and was instrumental in the zero-waste-to-landfill project for the company's four properties in Bali. At ROLE Foundation, a local Bali NGO, he was instrumental in setting up a ZeroWaste training center. Before joining the team at Selo, Van Zyl was the sustainability consultant for the new Locavore Next Restaurant in Ubud Bali that is currently under construction, The Datai Langkawi, and Nihi Sumba. Additionally, he contributed his expertise to other restaurant projects in Bali.
Van Zyl has been a speaker on sustainability at prominent events throughout the world, including the ACICIS program at Udayana University Bali, the National University of Singapore Master's program in Sustainability, and the World Tourism Destination Forum 2018. He has also been a guest speaker at UNINGO, the 2019 International Forum on Ocean Sustainability in Taiwan, EarthCheck Inner Circle forum in Cancun Mexico, Green School Bali, DAS Conference in Johannesburg South Africa, The Ubud Food Festival in Bali, and The Edition Hotel in Miami.
Inspired by nature, Van Zyl follows a holistic "permaculture," "blue" or "circular" economy approach with a concentration on the triple bottom line of people, profit and planet. He approaches sustainability evaluation, design and trouble shooting from a waste reduction and positive impact perspective.
