Joël Séché

About Joël Séché

Joël Séché is the founder and long-standing historical leader of Séché Environnement, a French industrial environmental services group specializing in waste management, recovery, treatment, and remediation. He founded the company in 1985 in the Mayenne region of France and guided its transformation from a family business into a listed industrial player. A major milestone in that journey was the company’s IPO in 1997, which supported expansion, financing, and external growth. Over time, Séché Environnement built a reputation as a specialist in industrial environmental solutions, with activities in France and abroad. In terms of governance, Joël Séché held the combined role of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for many years before the group moved to a separation of powers model. Today, he remains Chairman while his son Maxime Séché serves as Chief Executive Officer, preserving the family-controlled, long-term governance model that has characterized the group for decades. This structure has helped maintain strategic continuity, entrepreneurial culture, and a strong territorial footprint. His career is closely associated with a growth strategy based on disciplined acquisitions, industrial investment, and gradual international development. Company documents and press materials highlight key steps such as the acquisitions of Alcor and Trédi, as well as the consolidation of family control through Groupe Séché, the family holding company that owns a significant portion of the listed entity. Joël Séché is also identified with a hands-on governance style focused on operational discipline, environmental performance, and close engagement with management teams. Under his leadership, Séché Environnement expanded in areas such as circular economy, decontamination, industrial wastewater treatment, and energy recovery. As Chairman, he remains a key figure in the group’s strategic identity and in its positioning as one of France’s leading industrial environmental services companies.