RIOS: Certification Bodies, Auditors and Consultants

The Recycling Industry Operating Standard® (RIOS) is the scrap recycling industry's integrated management system standard for quality, environment, and health & safety (QEH&S).  RIOS includes the key operational and continual improvement elements that are also found in ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001 without the redundancies and technical language.  Designed for the recycling industry, RIOS provides the framework for a comprehensive, integrated management system to drive continual improvement in QEH&S performance and to achieve superior operational efficiency.  As a robust standard, RIOS is amenable to independent third-party certification.

To add value for RIOS members and the industry, ISRI Services Corporation (ISC), the RIOS administrator, worked with the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) to develop the RIOS Accreditation Program to accredit certification bodies (CBs) for RIOS auditing and certification.  Only CBs accredited to RIOS by ANAB are eligible to audit RIOS member facilities for RIOS certification.  For more information, see our  list of RIOS CBs.

RIOS Accreditation

The RIOS Accreditation Application and RIOS Accreditation Rule can be found at the RIOS Accreditation Program webpage. The RIOS Accreditation Rule includes two freely available mandatory documents from ISC,  "RIOS Certification Procedure" and  "RIOS Certifying Body Accreditation".  ”RIOS Certification Procedure” sets out ISC’s requirements for RIOS auditing and audit teams. “RIOS Certifying Body Accreditation” contains ISC’s requirements for RIOS CBs and RIOS Auditors.  Among other things, each CB must possess a licensed copy of RIOS and ensure that its auditors for RIOS audits meet all of the requirements for RIOS Auditors.  Similarly, each auditor must possess a licensed copy of RIOS and successfully complete an ISC-approved RIOS Auditor training course (see "RIOS Certifying Body Accreditation," Appendix 8.1, Clause 4.1.3).  The Accreditation and Procedure documents should be consulted for complete details.  To obtain a licensed  copy of RIOS, please download  this order form.   

Consultants

In addition, to enable RIOS member facilities to seek additional assistance on RIOS design and implementation from knowledgeable consultants, ISC also makes licensed copies of RIOS available to consultants on a stand-alone basis downloading  this order form. 

Organizations may seek approval from the Board of ISRI Services Corporation (ISC) to offer an ISC-approved RIOS Auditor training course.  Organizations should contact David Wagger, RIOS Program Manager, by email davidwagger@isri.org or by phone at 202-662-8533.

Currently, only First Environment offers an ISC-approved RIOS Auditor Training Course.  Please click here to see the current offerings.