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Hutchinson, Kan., Correctional Facility Honored for Reducing Waste

Release Date: 01/11/2012
Contact Information: Kris Lancaster, (913) 551-7557, [email protected]

Environmental News

NEWS MEDIA ADVISORY

(Kansas City, Kan., Jan. 11, 2012) - The Hutchinson, Kan., Correctional Facility will be honored next week by EPA for reducing its volume of solid waste through innovative and aggressive recycling programs. EPA will present a WasteWise State Government Partner of the Year Award to the correctional facility. This honor is awarded annually to one State WasteWise partner in the country.

WasteWise is a free, voluntary EPA program that helps businesses reduce their environmental impact and find cost savings through innovative waste reduction and recycling activities. The program provides an online reporting system called Re-TRAC, which allows members to track waste generation and reduction activities, generate customized reports, and calculate their greenhouse gas emission reductions and environmental impacts.

A tour of the corrections facility, at 1101 East G Avenue, in Hutchinson, Kan., will be held from 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 18. A news conference will follow at 2:30 at the same location.

WHAT: Recognition of Hutchinson Correctional Facility as the 2011 WasteWise State Government Partner of the Year

WHEN: 2:30 p.m., January 18, 2012 (Tour of the facility will begin at 2:00 p.m.)

WHERE: 1101 East G Avenue, South Unit, Hutchinson, Kan. 67501

WHO: EPA Region 7 Regional Administrator Karl Brooks, Hutchinson Correctional Facility Warden Sam Cline, and Kansas Department of Health and Environment Director of Waste Management Bill Bider

The Hutchinson Correctional Facility has made a concerted effort to reduce waste. Since 2010, the facility has diverted more than 1,496,000 pounds of solid waste from local landfills.

The correctional facility is the only mattress recycling center in Kansas. Since 2010, the facility has recycled more than 17,000 mattresses, which consisted of 46,000 pounds of foam, 287,000 pounds of steel, 22,000 pounds of wood and 46,000 pounds of cotton. In addition, the facility is recycling used inmate jeans. Useable remnants of jeans are made into quilts that are donated to charitable organizations. The inmates have made more than 1,085 quilts, which amounts to more than 12,000 pounds of clothing being diverted from a local landfill. Other recycling efforts include the use of recycled ink cartridges, toilet paper and paper towels.

EPA launched the WasteWise Program to help businesses and institutions find practical, economical and environmentally friendly methods for reducing municipal solid waste. By joining the WasteWise Program, the business or institution commits to implementing waste reduction through waste prevention, recycling, and using recycled-content products.