INSTITUTIONAL PROGRAMS COMPOSTING AND RECYCLING AT INDIANA PRISONS NDIANA Code 13-7-1-1 and cardboard from the prison mandates that the state's offices, kitchens and ware- solid waste disposal be houses, along with chipped reduced 50 percent by wood and leaves delivered by the year 2001. To surpass the city of Greencastle. A trac- this goal and provide tor with an end loader forms more jobs for inmates, windrows about five feet wide theI Indiana Department of and four to five feet tall, run- Correction (DOC) is develop- ning the length of the field. ing recycling and composting Turning frequency ranges operations at institutions from two or three times per throughout the state. Another week to two or three times per objective is to generate good month, depending upon the will in local communities by age of the windrow, pile tem- giving them an opportunity perature, moisture content, to bring leaves and other etc. Temperatures are taken yard trimmings to prison com- from different locations in each Dost sites at no charge. As are- Dile at least twice weeklv. Com- iult of legislation iassed by the Indiana Corn osting takes place on a posting time iaries from eight to 12"weeks) General Assembly, communities are pro- 180 LY 575 foot corn acted depending upon weather conditions. After hibited from placing grass clippings and clay pad at PutnamviPe the active phase, compost is removed from CorrectionalFacilifY's three- leaves in landfills. acre site. the field and placed in a pile for curing. A In February, 1997, Ed Cohn, DOC com- trommel has been purchased for screening. missioner, introduced the recycling and Runoff from the site is filtered through a composting strategy to the executive-staff, strip of fescue approximately 60 feet wide. division directors. facilitv suDerintendents The grass is maintained six to eight inches and parole supe&sors. He silicited the in- highin the field, which has a clay base. Re- -The Indiana maining runoff continues to a retention volvement of all department operations and staff members at each facility. The program pond five to six feet deep that runs the and goals also were submitted to the Indi- Department of width of the field. Two overflow pipes ex- ana Board of Correction. This coordinated tend above the banks of the pond and make effort will significantly reduce the quanti- Correction is a 90" turn under the bank and into a rock ties of materials sent to the landfill and the filtration area. associated tipping fees. embarking upon Significant savings have resulted from the diversion of food residuals and an ag- FIRST COMPOST SITE an ambitious gressive recycling program, which began in !YyWl* -January, 1M4 with cardbea-lld;-To~~yi-~~u- Putnamville Correctional Facility was the Fxrnmtcr aivert minum cans, newspaper, office paper and #1 department's initial venture into compost- and #2 plastics also are recycled. Since the ing. Through the initiative of several staff, materials from Putnamville Correctional Facility started a three-acre site was developed on a com- its recycling and composting operations, it pacted clay pad 180 by 575 feet to compost communities as has saved over $69,000 in waste disposal approximately 900 gallonslday of prison costs and more than 2,000 cubic yards of food residuals (minus meat products). The well as its own leaves, wood chips, paper, food, etc. have various composting responsibilities are un- been composted. Compost is used by the fa- dertaken by prisoners. facilities. cility vocational training horticulture pro- Food residuals are collected in the kitchen gram and given to other prisons for land- preparation area and by the dish tank. After scaping projects. meals, inmates scrape food items into 30-gal- William Cureton lon containers. A mixing wagon was built to STARTING OTHER SITES transport the food residuals to the compost Based on the results at Putnamville, the site. They are combined with shredded paper DOC decided to construct several more

76 BIOCYCLE MAY 1998 spent on those windrow turners. We decided we’d have a better return on our investment

“HIGH

more demolition woo colorization operations there’s going to be more around plants better.” To stay competitive, Mountain Valley w have to keep prices low, because, say Starner, “the bottom line to most of ou customers is price. Quality is second. They don’t want something that’s going to bleach out in two weeks and look terrible, but it seems the primary driving factor is price.” MACHINES FOR ALL TYPE OF MATERIALS One key to keeping mulch prices low for Mountain Valley is delivery - eliminating \ F#LD GYMMY, INC. the middleman. That requires maintaining Glandorf, Ohio 45848 the fleet of specially outfitted trailers, which costs at least $40,000 annually. (419) 538-651 1. Fax (419) 538-6365

W Reclaim and process up to 150 yards per hour. W Adjustable hydraulic speed controls. W Extremely durable, mobile, low labor oueration. W Electric stationary units. AVAILABLE WITH THE MU REENTMSYSTEM! W Some of the composted materials you can economically screen include: Sludge, Agricultural residues, Yard waste, Composted Mulch, Livestock manure, Poultry manure, Racetrack wastes, MSW tail end

BIOCYCLE MAY1998 75 compost sites. Byron Green of Green Grow, each site ranges between $150,000 to Inc., a compost producer that helped the $200,000. Any proceeds generated from the Putnamville facility set up its operation, is recycling and composting programs will Since the consulting on the new projects. Facilities be used to purchase additional equipment Putnamville first will be located at the Plainfield, and supplies. Pendleton, Westville and Wabash Valley Each compost site will be equipped with a Correctional Facility (in Carlisle). correctional facilities. Except tractor (with end loader), compost turner, for size, the sites at Westville, Pendleton wood chipper, storage building, etc. Trom- started its recycling and Plainfield will be designed similarly to me1 screens will be provided at three facili- Putnamville and will use inmate labor. ties and shared with the remaining two. and composting Each of these new facilities will be approx- Quality compost will be produced for land- imately ten acres to allow for future ex- scaping at various state facilities; a portion operations, it has pansion. They will include a three-acre will be given to participating communities. saved over $69,000 area for mixing and static pile compost- The compost site at Plainfield Correction- inglstorage, about six acres for windrow al Facility has received more than 100 tons in waste disposal composting and a settling pond. An esti- of leaves and wood chips from the towns of mated 1,000 lbslday of food will be com- Plainfield and Brownsburg since delivery costs and more than posted at the Westville, Pendleton and began in December, 1997. Transportation is Plainfield sites, with 600 lbslday estimated being coordinated with the West Central 2,000 cubic yards of for Wabash Valley. Some water will be ex- Solid Waste District (WCSWD), which rep- tracted through homemade screens to re- resents a five-county area. In return for use leaves, wood chips, duce volume before transporting the food to of the compost site, the WCSWD will pur- paper, food, etc. the composting sites chase the necessary equipment. It is antici- In fiscal year 1997-1998, DOC set aside pated that additional leaves and wood chips have been $400,000 for the necessary equipment and will be received from the towns of Danville, buildings. Additionally, the West Central Avon, Mooresville and Martinsville. composted. and LaPorte County solid waste districts Initially, the site will compost food resid- are providing some funds. With labor per- uals from Plainfield Correctional Facility, formed by staff and inmates, the cost for Plainfield Juvenile Correctional Facility,

78 BIOCYCLE MAY 1998

Reception Diagnostic Center, and Indi- OTHER COMPOSTING METHODS anapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility, While windrow composting is preferred, which house a total of 2,500 inmates. Plans some correctional facilities have little land are being made to add additional facilities in available outside the fenced perimeters. With labor the Indianapolis area. Static pile compost- Some are within metropolitan areas or ad- performed by staff ing began this April shortly after the storage jacent to state or federal parks, and some and mixing area was completed. Construc- are too small or do not have adequate work and inmates, the tion of the primary compost sites in Plain- forces to support windrow composting sites. field and Westville had been halted in late Other composting methods - vermicom- cost for each site fall 1997 due to weather. Work resumed in posting, backyard composting and in-vessel April and completion is expected by late systems - are being explored. ranges between summer 1998. Full-scale composting should Branchville Correctional Facility is lo- begin in early fall. cated in a rural area adjacent to a federal $150,000 to Initial plans are for the Westville site to park and has limited land available. Staff $200,000. compost food residuals from Westville Cor- and inmates expressed interest in vermi- rectional Facility, Indiana State Prison, composting. Construction of a building to Maximum Control Facility, Lakeside Cor- rectional Facility and Camp Summit, which house a total of 4,900 inmates. Site sensitivity issues at Plainfield, West- ville and Wabash Valley are being ad- dressed by the construction of earth berms, tree planting, etc. Instead of using covers or enclosures, the sites are constructed to be accessible throughout the entire year and contain adequate space for static pile com- posting during periods of inclement weather. The Pendleton operation will compost food residuals from Pendleton Correctional Facility and the Correctional Industrial Complex, which house about 2,900 inmates altogether. Plans are being developed to construct a new 350-bed juvenile correction- al facility in the immediate area that also will be served by Pendleton. Local govern- ment officials are being contacted to provide leaves and other yard trimmings as carbon sources. Site construction at Pendleton be- gan in April, 1998, with completion antici- pated by late summer. Full-scale compost- ing should start by the fall. SMALLER SITES Composting began in March, 1998 at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility. A ten- acre compost site similar to the Pendleton, Plainfield, and Westville operations origi- nally was planned. However, it was later de- CI Quantities, Regulations, CI Getting The termined that the prison and the communi- Water Quality Right Materials Mix ty could not support a site that large at the time. The project was downsized to approx- CI Turning A Disposal CI Composting High imately four acres, which provides sufficient Problem Into Moisture Manure space for storage and composting. It already A Profit Center had a gravel base and accessibility through- CI Low-Cost Compost Pad out the year. In April, the Sullivan County 0 Making, Selling And Options landfill closed, forcing the countv to haul its -ApplyingXnmpostted.Manure. waste elsewhere and pay more for disposal. The Sullivan County Waste District has ex- IJ Handling Liquids pressed interest in using the Wabash Valley And Solids compost site and building a recycling center at or adjacent to the prison. D Working With Traveling Composting also is ready to begin at Composters Rockville Correctional Facility, but final de- signs are still under consideration. The site 0 In-Vessel Systems consists of about three acres on a gravel And Anaerobic Digestion base. The smaller size is adequate to sup- Technology port the correctional facility, which is in a rural location and not likely to have com- munity participation. Start-up will be de- layed until completion of a major construc- tion project at the facility.

BIOCYCLE MAY 1998 79 facilities (mostly in rural areas) that do not have enough inmates to support larger operations. It is preferred over in-vessel composting since it is more labor intensive. Operations have started at a few facilities using wire bins and it is anticipated that several more will begin in the next few months. RECYCLING PROGRAMS Plainfield Correctional Facility has di- verted over 40 tons of materials since it be- gan an extensive recycling program on June 1, 1997. During one three-month period, re- cycling saved the prison more than $2,000 in tipping fees. The largest correctional facili- ty in the Plainfield area, it serves as a re- gional transfer site for three smaller pris- ons. Inmates sort cardboard, aluminum A windrow is turned at house the operation was completed in cans, steel cans, office paper, newspaper, Putnamville Correctional March, 1998. Used as a learning experi- plastics and magazines. Staff and inmates Facility, which composts ence, the facility has two worm bins with alike were slowly introduced into the pro- ap roximately 900 about 20 pounds of worms. Additional bins gram by recycling one or two items and ga&ns/day of prison food will be constructed in the near future and gradually handling more. residuals. the worm population increased to process Most of the 32 inmate work assignments 400 poundslday of food residuals. This op- created by the program involve hand sort- eration will be located inside the fenced ing, which is the preferred method because perimeter so inmates ineligible to work it is labor intensive. Inmates also are as- outside may participate. Knowledge gained signed to each housing unit and the kitchen from the project will be shared with local to sort and collect recyclables. Diverting schools, communities, state agencies and from the housing units has brought a signif- others. Opportunities to involve local com- icant increase in tonnage. munities will be sought. A local waste hauler places dumpsters for Backyard composting is used by small recyclables at the center and when full, re- moves them at no cost. The same arrange- ment has been made at other DOC facilities throughout the state. Three prisons receive r revenues for some of their recyclables; two use vendor-supplied balers for cardboard. As programs become more efficient, it is an- ticipated that new contracts will include revenues for some recyclables. Plainfield Correctional Facility also is seeking a local business to develop a con- struction debris transfer site on prison grounds. While some will be recovered from correctional facilities, the majority would come from elsewhere. A local hauler has proposed a wood and wire recovery project from construction waste. Both of these projects will provide additional op- portunities to divert materials from the lo- cal landfill and provide several new inmate work assignments. The Westville Correctional Facility and t~e-~a-~~t~Q~~~~~~~~~t (LCSWD) are working on a program where- by LCSWD will construct and manage a ma- terials recovery facility (MRF)for the district on prison property, assuming all expenses associated with running it. Approximately 25 new inmate jobs will be created for sort- ing and baling clean recyclables such as cardboard, paper, aluminum cans, plastics, etc. As a level two correctional facility (low Circle these important dates on your calendar. medium security), Westville will provide se- Watch for program information and complete details in upcoming issues curity for inmates working at the MRF. of BioCycle and your mail. William Cureton is program director of Re- BioCycle 419 State Avenue Emmaus, PA 18049 (610) 967-4135 source Recovery IInventory Control for the In- diana Department of Correction.

80 BIOCYCLE MAY1998