Iowa Prison Industries strives to provide environmentally friendly or, in today’s buzzword, ‘green’ products and services to our customers.
Not only do we have a number of products and services available to our customers to assist them in becoming more environmentally friendly, but we are also dedicated to finding more Green raw materials and business practices to decrease our overall impact on the environment.
Green Products & Services Currently Available:
- Green Seal Certified Cleaning Products: With the support of the State of Iowa’s Capitol Complex Facilities & Maintenance Department, Iowa Prison Industries introduced a full line of environmentally friendly Green Seal Certified cleaning products in January of 2008. IPI’s TerraGreen line of environmentally responsible, Green Seal Certified cleaning products is designed to help protect the environment (air, water and atmosphere) as well as the health of the building occupants and cleaning staff. By utilizing less-toxic cleaning chemicals, fewer harmful particulates and toxic substances are released into the environment.
- 100% Biodegradable Plastic Bags: Biodegradable bags are environmentally friendly; not only do they contain at least 30% recycled content, but they will naturally degrade in 9 months to 5 years!
- Plastic Bags with Recycled Content: Over two dozen sizes and styles of plastic bags that IPI offers are produced from Triolefin that contain 30% recycled content, which is in line with all the requirements in the State of Iowa for disposable plastic trash bags. Last fiscal year, over 80% of plastic bags produced and sold contained at least this minimum recycled content or higher.
- Printing Services: The IPI Graphic Arts division utilizes recycled paper and soybean-based inks whenever possible.
Waste Reduction In The Shops
- New machinery and techniques have allowed IPI to reduce its waste in the wood division to virtually nothing compared to the days of old.
Recycling Efforts
Unfortunately, it is impossible to eliminate all the waste created when operating a business. However, IPI strives to create as little environmental impact with that waste as possible.
- Central Canteen: In FY08, the IPI Central Canteen recycled 510 bails of cardboard, 180 palette boxes of loose card, 5 palette boxes of plastic, and 1,345 wooden shipping pallets.
Business Practices
- Purchasing: The purchasing department utilizes an on-line system of distributing bid and quote requests, greatly reducing the amount of paperwork printed and mailed.
The Future:
While IPI has taken great strides over the past years to both operate more eco-friendly and offer more Green products to our customers, we will continue to research more options for us and our customers.
Iowa Prison Industries:
Partnering With Our Customers For A Greener Iowa