Contact: Bonnie Merrill Limbach
(202) 974-5210

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPI Offers Preferred Registrar Listing Service For 14001 Certification

WASHINGTON (December 3, 2001) – The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI) has announced creation of a Preferred Registrar Program for member companies seeking third-party audit and registration under ISO 14001.

Under the new initiative, plastics companies can choose from among several pre-screened registrars that offer high-quality service, as well as reduced rates and other incentives available only to those using this SPI preferred provider program.

“While the incentives are limited to our members,” said SPI Science and Technology Officer Lynne Harris, “non-members may find that the savings achieved under the Program would cover their cost of membership in the association and provide them with access to the association's other valuable benefits and services.”

ISO 14001 is an international, voluntary standard that specifies the minimum elements for an effective environmental management system (EMS). It was published in 1996 by the International Organization for Standardization and adopted as the U.S. national EMS standard by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

“The reason our members and others in the industry should be interested in ISO 14001,” said Harris, “is that conformance with the standard may be required or encouraged by various customers, as we have seen with major companies, including the auto industry. Conformance to the standard may be particularly important for companies that sell, or plan to sell, products or services in Europe and Asia.”

“In addition,” Harris noted, “many companies that have implemented the standard have found that it can provide a number of benefits, such as improvements in environmental and compliance performance, cost control and savings, risk reduction, a competitive edge and an enhanced image with the public, regulators and other stakeholders.”

While third-party registration is not mandated by the voluntary standard, according to Harris, some companies have found independent assessment to be a marketing advantage. In addition, some large companies have mandated third-party registration as proof of conformance to the standard.

The SPI ISO 14001 Preferred Registrar Program was created by the association's Occupational Health and Environmental Issues Committee (OHEIC). To produce the preferred provider list, Harris said, SPI did “all the homework for members,” interviewing accredited registrars, checking references and negotiating incentives for companies using the Program. Criteria used included experience in the plastics industry, thoroughness of process, qualifications of auditors and whether the organization also provided registration for other standards, such as ISO 9001. All registrars selected for the Preferred Registrar Program are accredited by the ANSI Registrar Accreditation Board.

ISO 14001 registrars chosen for preferred status by SPI include, in alphabetical order: Det Norske Veritas; NSF International Strategic Registration, Ltd.; Perry Johnson Registrars, and Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.

Information about the Preferred Registrar Program and other OHEIC programs and services can be found on the SPI Web site at www.plasticsindustry.org/public/oheic/oheic.htm. Questions related to SPI membership can be directed to Pamela Rhodes, (202) 974-5242; e-mail prhodes@socplas.org.

Founded in 1937, The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc., is the trade association representing one of the largest manufacturing industries in the United States. SPI's 1,500 members represent the entire plastics industry supply chain, including processors, machinery and equipment manufacturers and raw material suppliers. The U.S. plastics industry employs 1.5 million workers and provides $304 billion in annual shipments.

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