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Providers of document shredding services. Reseasrch document shredding companies for paper shredding services and document destruction management services. Identify document shredd… more »
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The average employee handles about 600 pounds of paper a year. Much of this paper contains confidential information and must be disposed of in a way that keeps that information from falling into the hands of identity thieves. Document shredding offers one way to safely discard material. Although there is no guarantee that any shredding service is completely trustworthy, organizations may consider the extra business expense of shredding, whether on-site or off, to be worthwhile as a method of protecting their documents and the personal information of their customers. Businesses may also be drawn to the environmental advantage of recycling their shredded paper rather than simply placing it in the trash.
Benefits
According to FaCIA in its 2006-2007 report, the average employee goes through between 10,000 and 20,000 sheets of paper a year. That is about 30 reams or about 600 pounds of paper. With that much paper passing through the hands of the average employee there is a good chance that important personal information may end up intact in the trash, increasing the chances of fraud and identity theft.
Protection Against Identity Theft and Fraud
By shredding important documents you reduce the risk of individuals receiving personal information on your employees and customers. When you destroy hardcopies of information it is much harder, if not impossible, for someone to piece together the paper to find useable information. Confidential information will remain confidential. All private documents will be destroyed during the shredding.
Environmental Benefits
Shredded paper goes to the recycling bins. This recycled paper is thus turned back into new paper through recycling efforts. Recycling helps save the rainforest and the environment and can cut down on the amount of paper that your company uses each year. For companies that have large amounts of paper, the paper can be turned in for extra cash.
On-Site Shredding
On-site shredding is the best option for extremely sensitive documents, such as bank records. Employees from a document shredding company will bring their equipment to shred your documents in-house. This reduces the risk of important documents going into the hands of the wrong person. All papers are left at the organization and are not removed until the pages have been shredded.
Off-Site Shredding
Off-site shredding is perfect for a company that has a lot of documents and nowhere to store them. Documents are left in a specific place for pick-up. The documents are then transported to another warehouse to be shredded. The documents can also be dropped off at the shredding warehouse for shredding.
Pitfalls
Extra Business Expense
Regardless of whether you shred documents in-house or hire a document shredding service to handle your paperwork, your business will have additional expenses. Handling the documents in-house requires the purchase of paper shredders. Depending on the quantity of paper, a business may also need to hire a company to haul it from the office. Document shredding services can eliminate the need to purchase office equipment and handle the removal of waste. However, continuous service may become costly.
Breach of Confidentiality
Although the purpose of document shredding is to protect privacy, there is a risk of compromised security if the documents are not handled properly. If you shred papers in-house and bag the waste without mixing shreds from different batches, it is possible that someone could piece your documents together, especially if the documents are shred into wide strips. A company that provides document shredding services could also have unscrupulous employees handling your paperwork.
Loss of Time and Office Space
The disposal of documents takes time and attention away from other aspects of the business. If you have employees shredding documents in-house, they have less time to devote to their regular job duties and the company’s goals. Having containers provided by a document shredding service still requires the employees’ time, as they must carefully sort their paperwork and haul it to the secured bins. Paper shredders, containers and bags of paper waste also take up valuable space in the office.
Paper Waste
When a business relies on actual paper as opposed to digitized documents, it contributes to the excessive use and waste of paper products. The shredded documents can be recycled and reused, however document shredding does not fully negate the strain on resources, nor does it offset the costs of using and disposing of paper products. Companies that use electronic files can reduce their contribution to paper waste and save time and space.
Pricing
A recent study by the Mid-America Regional Council found that each ton of recycled paper can save up to 17 trees, three cubic yards of space used by landfills, 380 gallons of oil, about 7,000 gallons of water, and 4,000 kilowatts of energy. This is reason enough to start shredding and recycling all of your paper. Depending on how high the security need of the company is, the average cost of shredding will range between $1 and $4 on a per-pound basis. This figure is dependent on security taken during transport, shredding, disposal of shredding and how the document shredding is done (i.e., confetti or standard crosscut).
Conclusion
There are many benefits to shredding, especially given the large amount of paper passing yearly through the hands of employees. Shredding can reduce incidences of fraud and identity theft. Recycling shredded paper is easier on the environment than placing documents directly into the trash. There are also different kinds of shredding services offered that can specifically address a company’s quantity needs and security level. However, shredding is still an extra business expense. Employees may end up diverting time from other tasks to concentrate on shredding old documents, regardless of whether shredding happens on-site or off. Finally, paperless business practices are even more environmentally friendly than recycled paper, making electronic files appealing for many organizations. As no document shredding service can ensure absolute confidentiality, you should carefully research all your options before destroying material.
Protection of privacy is an important part of doing business. Whether you deal with information pertaining to clients like those a doctor or lawyer might maintain or you simply have documents that might disclose proprietary information and such, disposing of those documents when they are no longer needed can be problematic. Document shredding is one way to deal with the issue..
Shredding documents helps protect private information and protects against possible identity theft. It is also a greener way to dispose of large quantities of paper. As it is already shredded into smaller pieces, it breaks down more quickly, helping replenish soil nutrients and taking up less landfill space. Document shredding is a viable solution for what to do with large quantities of disposal papers.
Options for shredding your paper abound. Shredders come in various sizes from small home office types that are not much bigger than a desk-sized waste can to large industrial shredders. You can also use the services of companies that will shred your documents for you so you don't need to purchase any equipment. Use the Business.com clickable links to investigate the possibilities before you decide on shredding solution for your company's disposable paper issues.
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