A Culture of Sustainability

Sustainability and environmental awareness permeate everything we do at Correctional Industries. Efforts to “go green” have transformed Washington’s state prison system into a powerhouse of social benefits – completely dispelling prison systems’ traditional rap as necessary evils that only consume tax dollars and resources.

More than Just Green

Correctional Industries’ commitment to building sustainability in all its business operations includes environmentally friendly and recycled material for manufacturing, creating products that can be completely recycled, offering recycling services and developing zero-waste processes. But it also includes trimming down our procedures and processes to avoid needless delays, repetitive efforts, waste and unnecessary manpower. In this way we deliver superior products to customers faster while reducing costs and freeing up capacity for new product lines. Additional product lines increase job and training opportunities so more offenders are prepared to return to society as productive individuals.

A Brighter Future

Offender worker builds furniture Sustainable business practices converge naturally with Correctional Industries’ mission to rehabilitate offenders through job training and reduce Corrections’ reliance on tax dollars. Training in sustainable technology and lean manufacturing systems prepares offenders for work in a world increasingly focused on these important issues. In the process they also learn environmental ethics and business strategies.

Green Materials & Processes

WOOD
The plywood we purchase meets all NAUF (No Added Urea Formaldehyde) and Ultra Low Emitting Formaldehyde standards. The particleboard is made with 100% recycled wood with NAUF.
ALUMINUM
The extruded aluminum window/open frame components in our panel systems have a recycled content of 25% with 10% being post-consumer recycled content.
STEEL
Cold-rolled steel used in our worksurface mounting brackets have a recycled content of 50%.
PANEL FABRIC
Products such as privacy screens, acoustical panels, etc., are comprised of 100% recycled polyester.
CHAIR FABRIC
We offer fabrics that consist of 100% recycled polyester reclaimed from plastic bottles.
FOAM
Foam utilized in our seating products are without chlorofluorocarbons, a type of ozone depleting substance.
METAL FINISHES
Standard metal components are finished using solvent-free electrostatically applied powder-coat paint that emits no volatile organic chemicals (VOCs). Overspray is used to create recycled paint on the interior of select products.
ADHESIVES
Adhesives applied to our furniture are nontoxic, water-based, and do not emit volatile organic chemicals (VOCs).

Lean Processes

Correctional Industries implemented lean manufacturing principles with the goals of reducing waste and establishing best practices. Staff at every facility learned to identify opportunities to reduce delays, minimize waste and scrap, cut costs and increase value to the customer.

A Natural Choice

Environment-related projects at Correctional Industries also contribute to sustainability efforts at other state agencies and institutions. CI customers get green credits for using low-emission furniture and janitorial products and for purchasing furniture and supplies that are recyclable or constructed from recycled products. This enables them to work toward their sustainability goals without additional expense and moves the entire state toward a more environmentally friendly status. Implementation of lean manufacturing principles have enabled CI to keep product prices low so state agencies are able to purchase more with less and make greater strides toward their sustainability goals.

Instead of being an expense that drives a need for more tax dollars and simply consumes resources, CI and its sustainability programs play a key role in transforming Washington’s prison network into a self-sustaining system in which every tax dollar invested yields more than 30 times its value in benefits—a truly sustainable system.

Sustainable practices multiply the effectiveness of every tax dollar, helping Correctional Industries generate about $32.50 in benefits for every dollar in cost and contribute millions of dollars each year to Washington’s economy.

Products and Services

We believe it is worth the extra effort to ensure our processes have a minimal impact on the environment. We take pride in manufacturing products and developing services that are environmentally friendly and diverse in nature. Many of our customers benefit from the following:

GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certified® furniture products that have been tested for their chemical emissions performance.
CorrectPac® Janitorial products, with environmentally friendly high-concentration formulas and a packaging system designed to reduce waste.
Recycling services to include collection and recycling of paper, cardboard and plastic scrap, in order to reduce waste management costs.
Mattress recycling where mattresses are disassembled and components are sold to industries that recycle them for use in other products.
Sign refurbishing which utilizes waterjet technology to make old aluminum signs look new again.
Furniture restoration that will have your upholstered and wood furniture looking like new as well.

We're not done yet!

Correctional Industries is always on the lookout for new opportunities to make our operations more efficient and our businesses cleaner, greener and more sustainable. Green tree is symbolic of sustainable practices Compostable food containers, recycling offender clothing and composting bio-solids from waste water plants with prison food waste to create a saleable fertilizer are all on tap. Lean manufacturing efforts continue with the goal of streamlining processes at all our facilities statewide. Where possible, operations are being condensed and excess capacity is being applied to new product lines.