Cartiere del Garda, part of the Lecta Group, has a long tradition of working for the protection of its employees’ health and safety. In 2012 the company again participated in the "Sicurezza Obiettivo Zero" (Safety Objective Zero) Project promoted by the Giuseppe Lazzareschi Foundation. The foundation was created by the Lazzareschi family, with the aim of keeping the memory of Giuseppe and his values alive. Giuseppe Lazzareschi was a well-known Italian paper entrepreneur. 

With this project, the foundation aims to:

• Help drastically reduce the number of accidents at the workplace with an ultimate goal of reducing them to zero;
• Contribute to a culture of safety; 
• Reward company and employee awareness in reaching higher levels of safety;
• Inform the public of its efforts towards obtaining the highest levels of occupational safety;
• Demonstrate the performance and the levels of safety reached within the paper sector.  

Companies that take part in Obiettivo Zero show their awareness of safety issues, as well as their commitment to ensuring that the production of high quality materials is at a par with respect towards, and the overall safety of, the people passionately working in their production on a daily basis. 

During the ceremony, which took place on Friday May 10th, 2013, the Giuseppe Lazzareschi Foundation, awarded Cartiere del Garda with a trophy and a certificate of merit as the company with the lowest index of serious injuries in 2012 in the "Paper industry with over 30 employees and Paper mills with over 50 employees" categories. A recognition which rewards the great efforts which have already resulted in Cartiere del Garda’s certification to OHSAS 18001 standards in 2009.

This year, the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, has also wanted to add his personal recognition by sending the Medal for Merit to the Giuseppe Lazzareschi Foundation, emphasising the importance of the Sicurezza Obiettivo Zero Project. 

This recognition from an organisation that places respect towards the environment and towards the person in the foremost place is, for Cartiere del Garda, an honour and a source of motivation for further improvement. 

"For us this is not just any award; receiving such recognition from a foundation that knows how much effort is needed to continue to do work of the highest quality while putting respect towards the individuals working on it and the environment in the first place, is a source of great satisfaction for us", declared Giovanni Lo Presti, Industrial General Director of Cartiere del Garda. 

Lecta is one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of coated woodfree paper (CWF), being the market leader in Southern Europe, with a total production capacity of nearly 2 million tons of coated paper, pulp, specialty papers and base paper at its 9 manufacturing sites in Spain, Italy and France.

With a firm commitment to protecting the environment, Lecta mills have secured the most rigorous environmental management certificates, ISO 14001 and EMAS, FSC® and PEFC™ Chain of Custody Certifications and recently, the ISO 50001 Energy Management System Certification. 

For more information about Cartiere del Garda’s, and Lecta’s commitment to social responsibility, please visit www.gardacartiere.it  and www.lectasustainability.com.