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Document Shredding: 5 Reasons to Go Green in 2023

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From reducing privacy risks to time and cost savings, a company-wide green strategy that includes sustainable document shredding can positively impact your bottom line. It’s also becoming an increasingly popular way for organizations to keep up with the modern business environment while expanding your corporate social responsibility. With McDonalds and Google’s recent announcements to go green in 2019, it comes as no surprise that companies are following the lead to promote a cleaner, healthier workplace.

At Vital Records Control, we’re here to support your company’s green initiatives while protecting your confidential information. To help celebrate this Earth Day, we’re highlighting the advantages of sustainable document shredding services for your organization:

5 Reasons to Use Document Shredding Services

1.Reduce Privacy Breach Risks

With all of the breaches occurring, organizations are taking a hard look at how they protect their documents and data. One of the most significant advantages of using a shredding service is privacy protection. Your documents are collected, destroyed and recycled within a strict chain of custody. Bonded, background-checked, and insured professionals are trained to keep your information secure.

2. Not All Shredding Service Companies Are NAID AAA Certified

The National Association of Information requires security and protection to all providers that achieve NAID certification. That means that a shredding provider must have a third party validate the following areas:

  • Employee screening processes
  • Insurance requirements
  • Written security policies and procedures
  • Certified proof of shredding processes

Not every company meets NAID standards and requirements. If you want to ensure your documents are destroyed with the highest level of security, choose a NAID AAA Certified provider.

Further, identity thieves aren’t just after carelessly-discarded documents. They also steal hard drives and backup tapes. Tech-savvy criminals can still access deleted digital files on discarded digital devices. A hard drive shredding service makes it impossible for a thief to steal your data. Your digital devices are shredded into tiny pieces, and you receive a Certificate of Destruction for your records.

3. Saves You Time

Organizations invest in office shredding machines as a way to shred documents quickly. Unfortunately, shredding documents with office shredders isn’t efficient. Paperclips and staples have to be removed from files. Only a few sheets of paper can be fed into the shredder at a time, and shredders often jam anyway. On top of all that, the receptacle has to be emptied regularly—and how do you keep the shredded paper out of the hands of thieves?

A shredding service eliminates this time-consuming and unsecured process. Shred collection containers are placed in high-traffic office areas where confidential documents can be easily tossed inside. Once your shred collection containers are full, a shredding technician collects the contents and either shred your documents onsite with a mobile shredding truck or transport them to a plant-based shredding facility.

4. Compliance

Sometimes, it’s hard to know what’s considered confidential business information and what isn’t. By using a secure destruction provider, all paper materials placed within a secure, locked bin are destroyed either onsite or offsite. This type of “Shred-All Policy” within your organization removes the worry about what documents need to be shred to stay compliant.

On the flipside, in-house shredding is often not securely monitored or controlled. Office shredders don’t always destroy confidential information beyond recognition, allowing the opportunity for your confidential documents to be pieced back together and exposed.

5. Securely Recycles Your Information

If you have a corporate recycling program, a sustainable shredding service is a must. After destruction, your paper documents are baled and shipped to a partner paper mill where it is recycled into new products.  A NAID certified shredder not only makes sure your data is destroyed but ensures the shredded paper is recycled adequately for reuse.  Make sure your provider is appropriately shredding and recycling your information.


About the Author

Andrew Ysasi, MS, CRM, FIP, CIPM, CIPP, CISM, PMP, IGP is the Vice President, Advocacy of Vital Records Control and President of IG Guru®, an IG news organization to ensure relevant IG news is shared with the IG community.   

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