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Recycled equipment saves money and resources: HM Prison Service

Case Study: Her Majesty’s Prison Service’s kitchen refit

Region: England and Wales

Organisation: HM Prison Service, Disposal Services Agency, Ministry of Defence and Buying Solutions

Description: The Prison Service announced in 2005 that it was to spend £5 million on a programme to refits its kitchens in 68 prisons by March 2006. The Corporate Procurement Unit (CPU) with colleagues from Catering Services developed a strategy to procure a wide variety of energy efficient equipment including large-scale combination ovens, island cookers, and fryers, as well as pans, steamers, kettles and mixers.

Built into the strategy was:

  • The need for ongoing servicing and warranty agreements to be built into the solution to remove expensive annual maintenance costs from prison budgets; and
  • A requirement for the Disposal Services Agency to dispose of the existing equipment in a sustainable manner, with sale and reuse on a commercial basis the desired outcome.

The DSA offer a highly professional, sustainable, managed disposal and asset recovery service, meeting all UK and International environmental and health and safety legislation.

Benefits
  • By incorporating a 5 year warranty into the contract, expensive annual maintenance costs were removed from prison budgets and savings of more than £700,000 achieved.
  • The DSA identified that many items of equipment to be replaced could be repaired and refurbished for use by the MOD, with the resulting income filtered back to the Prison Service.
  • Repairing the equipment ensured that it did not end up being scrapped or land filled.
  • The refurbished equipment also helped make the MOD’s procurement budget go a little further by providing quality second user equipment for kitchens where it was uneconomic to purchase new.
Lessons learned during implementation

It was vital to work with an experienced team with knowledge of the difficulties involved. DSA has provided disposal services for the Prison Service since 1997.

The removal of existing equipment and installation of new was planned with military precision covering both the logistics of getting the ‘old’ out and the ‘new’ in, but also the correct security clearances and systems essential when working in a prison environment.

Future developments

This is a good example of "joined up Government" and the case study is published to encourage other public sector bodies to follow the Prison Service’s example in seeking to improve the environmental performance of its catering operations and to reduce waste by facilitating the reuse of redundant equipment in other locations.

Further information

Page published: 12 May 2006

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs