Putnamville Correctional Facility

Putnamville Plant Director:  Michael Callahan

Location:

1946 West U.S. Hwy 40 


Greencastle, IN 46135

 

“Prison systems have often been accused of recycling inmates.  A Central Indiana penitentiary prefers the attention it’s getting for reusing cans, bottles, paper, and cardboard.  The Putnamville Correctional Facility near Greencastle recycles 10 tons a month of cans, bottles, paper, plastic wrappers and other material that deserves a second chance”  (John Tuohy, Indianapolis Star)

Additional green indicators cited in Mr. Tuohy’s Indianapolis Star article include:

  • A windmill on the grounds generates enough power for one large building.
  • Water conservation system that saves more than 1 million gallons a day.
  • Compact fluorescent bulbs cut electricity bills.
  • Sales of the prison’s recyclables have earned about $150,000 in a year.
  • A furnace using recycled scrap wood heats the facility and saved $1.25 million in the first two years.
  • The entire operation has created about 40 full-time jobs for inmates.
  • A 100 by 400 foot garden is being planned with produce to be donated to organizations that feed the homeless and needy.
  • Green Organizational of the Year designation by the Hoosier Environmental Council.

Contacts: Mike Callahan, physical plant director and Robert Dubois, corrections officer.

(765) 653-8441

Agriculture, Energy, Government, Recycling, 7 - RegionShannon Anderson