LifeSpan Technology Recycling has announced that it has achieved R2/RIOS and ISO 14001:2004 certifications at all of its North American processing facilities. In receiving the certification, LifeSpan says it is one of only four companies in the United States to achieve both of the designations.
LifeSpan was audited for compliance with the standards by the independent firm SGS. In addition, LifeSpan is already certified for electronic data sanitization by the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) and is a Microsoft authorized refurbisher.
R2/RIOS combines the Recycling Industry Operating Standard (RIOS) certification, developed by the Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) with the Responsible Recycling (R2) practices facilitated by the Environmental Protection Agency and other stakeholders. Companies achieving R2/RIOS certification are designated as Certified Electronics Recyclers.
In regards to ISO certification, ISO 14000 is a global standard for environmental management systems. The standard seeks to reduce the environmental footprint of a business and to decrease the pollution and waste that a business generates.
“Our achievement of the R2/RIOS and ISO 14001:2004 certifications further underscore LifeSpan’s commitment to state-of-the-art quality, environmental, and health & safety management systems,” says Dag Adamson, LifeSpan’s president. “Many electronics recycling companies fail to uphold their claims of transparency and accountability. This creates risk for organizations that believe they are sending equipment to someone who will recycle it appropriately. Independent third-party certifications such as R2/RIOS and ISO 14001:2004 provide customers with external assurance that their recycler’s assertions are legitimate,” Adamson adds.
“We are very pleased that LifeSpan Technology Recycling has become the newest Certified Electronics Recycler. The company’s commitment to responsible electronics recycling is another testament to the growing numbers of recyclers doing the right thing by adopting this forward-looking program designed to protect worker health, safety, and the environment,” says Robin Wiener, president of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries.