Hutchinson ? A Hutchinson prison has won statewide honors for its recycling program.

Inmates at the Hutchinson Correction Facility have made old prison blues into quilts, turned old wood into children’s toys and collected tons of aluminum.

The prison was honored by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment as the “Best Overall Recycling Program” in 2009 among 157 state agencies.

Since March, some inmates have sorted through trash to find recycling materials. The goal is to reduce the waste to zero.

In four months, the central unit has cut its landfill waste in half. About 1,030 of the 1,800 inmates at the prison live in the central unit. Trash pickup has also been reduced to twice monthly, instead of weekly.

“In the past, we just threw a bag in the Dumpster,” said prison spokesman Steve Schneider. “Now, we’re looking more closely at things before they leave the premises. It’s a good way to keep the inmates busy and reduce our footprint at the landfill.”

Hutchinson Correctional Facility is among 226 Kansas “Green Teams.”

Former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius issued an executive order for all state offices to implement recycling programs by December 2007, and the action prompted the development of the Green Teams.

“The importance of a Kansas Green Team is basically maintaining environmentally sound practices,” she said. “Hutchinson Correctional Facility has continued to evolve their program into what it is today, and the uniqueness of what they’re doing now is their target is zero landfill contribution.”

Last year, Hutchinson Correctional Facility recycled 49,640 pounds of cardboard and paperboard, 4,800 pounds of paper, 34,145 pounds of steel and 252 pounds of other materials.

Warden Sam Cline said inmates have worked hard to find new ways to recycle.

“We’re very much like a city here, and a big thing is not to let this be unsanitary,” he said.