The Ministry of Justice offers prisoners training in the waste industry

Describing its contribution to the circular economy, the Ministry of Justice said this work by prisoners led to the recovery of almost 4,000 tonnes of material and saved the taxpayer £2.5 million a year.

According to the report, 47 prisons provided 1,791 waste qualifications to prisoners between 2018 and 2022 by the organization Wamitab, as part of efforts to equip prison leavers with the knowledge and skills needed for jobs in the waste and circular economy sectors.

The Justice Department has more than 1,500 locations, including some 100 prisons, and said it would “create green jobs for prisoners by leveraging the prison complex’s unique capabilities to repair, remanufacture and to recycle”.

In the long term, the idea was to have sites with the right infrastructure, equipment and contractor support to effectively reduce and manage waste and to only purchase “durable, sustainable products that have been ‘remade’ and in a can be repaired in no time. prison workshops as often as possible”.

Other recycling and reuse projects included inmates repairing televisions, telephones and boots participation of offenders in Keep Britain Tidy’s annual Great British Spring Clean campaign.