Cirba Solutions
Our Leadership
Our dedicated team of industry professionals bring passion for both work and the environment to everything they do. Driving change for our customers, we make an impact everyday.
David Klanecky
“We are servicing the needs of today and supporting our future generations with sustainable solutions for the planet.” said Klanecky.
Recognized for his impressive more than 30-year career as an expert in the critical minerals industry and global operations, David brings his unparalleled experience and knowledge to his role as Chief Executive Officer and President of Cirba Solutions.
Cirba Solutions is the most experienced and premier service provider in the battery recycling materials and management industry. With 7 strategic locations, Cirba Solutions is taking batteries at end-of-life, processing them to refine critical materials, and putting battery-grade salts back into the domestic supply chain. Leading the strategic growth of Cirba Solutions, Klanecky led a capital raise securing almost $300 million dollars and won 3 significant Department of Energy grants of more than $282 million in his first few years with the organization. Coordinating with both private and public sectors, David is focused on expanding operational and technology capabilities and increasing the domestic capacity to process lithium-ion batteries to support the growing needs of the circular battery supply chain.
David is the current President of NAATBatt International, sits on the External Advisory Committee for the Advanced Energy Technologies Directorate of the Department of Energy’s, Argonne National Laboratory, and is a Board Director for NanoGraf.
Prior to his time at Cirba Solutions, Klanecky served as Executive Vice President and COO of Piedmont Lithium, where he helped build one of North America’s largest lithium company. From 2013 to 2021, David served in increasingly senior management roles within the Albemarle Corporation, the world’s leading lithium producer, including VP of Strategy and Corporate Development and as Vice President – Lithium Operations and Commercial teams with global responsibility for Albemarle’s manufacturing/operations, process technology, and product management within the global lithium business. He also served as the CEO of the MARBL joint venture between Albemarle and Mineral Resources Ltd., which includes the Kemerton and Wodgina assets in Australia.
David also had a notable 20-year career with The Dow Chemical Company that spanned the globe including expat assignments in Spain, Switzerland, and China across a number of innovative industries. In his last role with Dow, he launched the Dow Energy Materials Business, focused on Lithium-Ion Battery Materials offerings for cell manufacturers and Automotive OEMs.
David is a Chemical Engineer with an Executive MBA from Arizona State/Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Walt Sopp
As the Chief Operations Officer, and with an influential 30+ years of operational excellence and international leadership experience, Walt leverages his expertise in global lithium manufacturing, strategic planning, and operational and manufacturing efficiency to drive the continued success of Cirba Solutions’ growth and development. As a forward-thinking leader, he manages the company’s operational performance enhancements, the growth of the organization’s manufacturing footprint, and supports the sustainable transformation of bringing critical materials to the domestic battery supply chain.
Prior to joining Cirba Solutions, Walt spent nearly 10 years with the Albemarle Corporation in a variety of roles, most notably as the Chief Operating Officer-Australia and the Vice President of Manufacturing for Asia Pacific, where he led cross-functional teams in the delivery of lithium manufacturing requirements and related operations across the Asia Pacific region and China.
He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel with the United States Marine Corps where he spent more than 20 years with the organization in various leadership roles, including Operations and Executive Officer of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit leading operations across four continents and multiple overseas assignments with NATO conducting joint planning and operations.
Walt has an M.A. in International Studies from the Universität der Bundeswehr München, a B.S. in Management from The Pennsylvania State University, and has more than 1,000 hours of formalized leadership/management instruction and training.
Jay Wago
Jay Wago has 25 years of global lithium-ion battery materials sales and business development experience and serves as Cirba Solutions’ Chief Commercial Officer. He has managed a broad range of battery materials Including separators, cathode, anode, lithium salts and lithium specialty products as well as battery production process technology.
Mr. Wago has worked in various regions including North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. Previous roles include Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Westwater Resources, Global Business Director at Albemarle Corporation, Asia-Pacific Commercial Director at Dow Chemical Company, Sales Manager at Itochu Corporation, and Sales Operations Manager at Celgard. In these roles, he was responsible for creating and executing global commercial strategies, developing new business partnerships, driving sales growth, and leading new business development.
Jay has also served as Representative Director/President of Japan Acrylic Chemical and a board member of Nippon Aluminum Alkyls. He holds a bachelor’s degree of Business Administration in Marketing from Georgia State University.
Claire Zirkelbach
As CFO, Claire oversees all financial aspects and activities of the company. She leads the long-term financial strategy for the organization and is responsible for financial planning, budgeting, and reporting.
Meredith Barius
Meredith Barius serves as the Chief People Officer. In her role, she Is responsible for leading Cirba Solutions’ overall human resources strategy, talent acquisition, leadership development, organizational design, cultural development, compensation and benefits, human resources technology, operations, and employee relations.
Prior to serving as Chief People Officer, Barius most recently served as Global Director of Human Resources in the packaging industry in which she led integration strategy over the company’s most recent acquisition. In addition, she oversaw all human resources activities including cultural change management initiatives and labor relations strategies in the United States and United Kingdom. Additionally, Meredith was instrumental in growing a privately held distribution business from threefold in employee population and eightfold in geographic locations, with a multi-country presence which included developing policy and practice internationally.
Barius holds a Bachelor’s Degree in business from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and holds a certification in coaching change management and crucial conversations. Throughout her career, she has been a member and held various positions at the Society of Human Resources Management local chapters in New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Chicago.
Troy Thennis
With 33 years of experience in the chemical industry, Thennis leads a high-performing team of engineers focused on developing and building lithium-ion battery recycling and battery materials processing technologies. Prior to joining Cirba Solutions he worked as the Vice-President of Manufacturing at Redwood Materials for the anode copper foil and hydrometallurgical refining business.
Prior to that he worked for nearly 16 years with Albemarle Corporation where he was the Senior Director of Process Technology for their lithium division.
Thennis has a passion for leadership and people development. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology; having been recognized in 2001 as the outstanding recent Chemical Engineering graduate.
Jake Wilson
Jake Wilson serves as Chief Legal Officer of Cirba Solutions. Jake leads all legal and compliance activities and provides strategic guidance and corporate governance oversight for the company. Jake also has responsibility for the company’s sustainability function. Jake has a strong background in the logistics and chemicals industries, with over 20 years of experience handling domestic and international legal matters, governance, compliance, M&A, strategy and business development matters in legal and business leadership roles.
Prior to joining Cirba Solutions, Jake most recently served as Vice President, Corporate Business Development Strategy at Albemarle Corporation, where he was responsible for leading Albemarle’s enterprise-wide inorganic growth strategy. Previously, Jake served as Vice President, Legal Affairs, where he was responsible for leading Albemarle’s global legal function. He previously served as Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Counsel for each of Albemarle’s global business units. He also held responsibility for Albemarle’s corporate legal function, including M&A, securities, governance and corporate secretarial matters. Prior to joining Albemarle, Jake managed M&A, corporate and securities law matters at FedEx Corporation, where he played an important role in its international growth strategy. Before moving in-house, Jake practiced corporate and securities law at Haynes and Boone, LLP.
Jake earned his undergraduate degree with honors from Southern Methodist University and his law degree with honors from Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law.
Danielle Spalding
Danielle Spalding serves as VP, Communications & Public Affairs for Cirba Solutions, where she leads diverse teams in communication and marketing, government affairs, and community engagement. For nearly 20 years, Danielle has worked with brands of all sizes in the private sector focusing on strategic positioning, market leadership and amplifying connections.
In her previous roles including Director of Digital Engagement and Marketing, as well as Director of Client Services Spalding handled various campaigns creation, market landscape analysis, strategic planning, communication planning including crisis management and brand building. Notably, she spearheaded Cirba Solutions successful rebranding after the mergers and acquisitions, launching the new brand in June 2022.
Beyond her professional accomplishments, Danielle is a passionate sustainability advocate, striving to provide impactful solutions, education, and thought leadership. She holds a BBA in Marketing and Management from the University of Michigan and an MBA in International Business from Walsh College.
Anna Lo
Anna Lo serves as Vice President of Supply Chain & Business Excellence at Cirba Solutions. Her responsibilities include managing Sales and Operations Planning, Global Logistics, Procurement, Continuous Improvement, and Information Technology. Anna is an accomplished and results-oriented global supply chain executive with over 20 years of experience in various leadership positions in end-to-end supply chain management.
Prior to joining Cirba Solutions, Anna previously held the position of Senior Director of Global Supply Chain Center of Excellence at Albemarle Corp. where she led a team of Global Process Owners for Source To Pay/Global Procurement, Customer To Cash, Integrated Business Planning/ Plan To Produce, Global Trade Compliance, and Supply Chain COE analysts to drive end-to-end integration and harmonization of the Global Supply Chain Management by enhancing People, Process, Technology.
Anna holds a Bachelor of Science in Business- Integrated Supply Chain and Operations Management from the University of Phoenix, a certification in Driving Strategic Innovation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certified.
Tristan Rizzo
As a master of organization and a detail-oriented professional, with nearly 10 years of experience in the supply chain and transportation industries, Tristan is instrumental in supporting Cirba Solutions’ Executive Leadership Team. In her role as Executive Assistant, she seamlessly manages complex schedules, coordinates high-stakes meetings, and ensures efficient communication across the C-suite, all while enabling the executive team to achieve their goals.
Prior to joining the Cirba Solutions team in 2023, Tristan held several Executive Assistant roles where she managed multiple levels of the C-Suite from Presidents to CEOs to Chief Operating Officers to Senior Vice Presidents, including those of publicly traded companies.
Previous Executive Assistant roles included the COO of STG Logistics in Charlotte, North Carolina; the Senior Vice President of IT Shared Services of XPO Logistics in Charlotte, North Carolina; and the President and CEO of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse, New York.