Sustainable development

For development to be sustainable it must integrate environmental stewardship, economic development and the well-being of all people-not just for today but for countless generations to come. This is the challenge facing governments, non-governmental organizations, private enterprises, communities and individuals.

In recent years, Luzenac has been assessing its business and comparing it with the sustainable development agenda. This assessment has covered not only all our mines and processing plants but also the uses to which talc is put and the resulting effects. 2002 saw the birth of Luzenac's first global SD program. This involved drawing up an internal SD Assessment report, adopting an SD policy and setting goals for 2003 and beyond.

In September 2002, the European Commission officially launched the voluntary scheme for the public reporting of Sustainable Development Indicators (SDI) in the non-energy extractive industry (i.e., industrial minerals, metals, aggregates, lime etc.). This scheme is the first of its kind in the world and Luzenac served on the Working Group along with Government, NGO and other industry groups. As the representative of the Industrial Minerals Association, Luzenac played a leading role in this initiative. This SDI Scheme throws light on how companies are working to balance environmental, social and economic dimensions.

In parallel with the SDI Scheme, we also recently developed an internal system for Corporate Compliance Assurance. As many companies are discovering, a formal system that ensures you are acting in accordance both with the law and with your own corporate policies is essential. We are now in the process of implementing this system, which covers all aspects of the company: human resources, finance, commercial dealings, health, safety, environment and community and so on.

Environment will always have a special place in SD, and we are especially pleased that all our operations around the world are now certified to ISO 14000. This company-wide project is the culmination of efforts from all our people around the world.

For more information about how Luzenac is contributing to the Sustainable Development agenda, download our 2006 Sustainable Development Report

If you have a question about our HSEC policy and practices, please click here.