ANSI/ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) is developing an accreditation program for the recycling industry. The scheme, called the Recycling Industry Operations Standard (RIOS) is a comprehensive, integrated standard based on ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. It includes six components: general requirements, policy, planning, implementation, checking and corrective action, and management. It was developed by ANAB with the help of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc., a trade group that represents more than 1,200 recycling-industry professionals.

“RIOS is expected to save recyclers time and money by improving product quality, reducing accidents and improving regulatory compliance,” says Robert H. King Jr., ANAB president. “Our accreditation program is intended to meet the needs of the recycling industry for an accredited certification program.”

The program will be available to registrars in the second quarter of 2006. The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc represents more than 1,200 companies that process, broker and consume scrap commodities such as metals, paper, plastics, glass, rubber, electronics and textiles. For more information, visit www.anab.org or www.isri.org.