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Sustainable Shredding: The Green Approach to Security

Sustainable Shredding

Being environmentally conscious is gaining momentum for many companies as they realize the positive impact it has on the environment and their image in a global marketplace. In a 2020 McKinsey US consumer survey, 60% of consumers said they’d pay more for products with sustainable packaging. Going green isn’t a fad, it’s a business decision your customers will welcome and ultimately expect.

While there are several things you can do to incorporate eco-friendly practices into your organization, one of the easiest ways is through your shredding services. Sustainable shredding securely clears your office of paper clutter in an eco-friendly way. Here we take a look at how sustainable shredding can support your company’s green efforts while providing top-notch security:

Going Green with Sustainable Shredding

Reduces Carbon Footprint

The typical US employee uses around 10,000 sheets of paper per year. Imagine if all that paper was thrown away and ended up in a landfill. Mobile paper shredding services destroy unwanted files onsite and then transport them to an off-site recycling facility. For every ton of paper that gets recycled, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space is saved.

Sustainable shredding safely turns your sensitive documents into reusable paper products, reducing your carbon footprint on the environment.

Saves Natural Resources

Recycling paper in your office will have a significant impact on the environment by conserving natural resources. For each ton of recycled paper, 17 trees, 4,000 kilowatts of energy, 380 gallons of oil, and 7,000 gallons of water are conserved.

By partnering with a shredding company that recycles all shredded materials, you can feel confident that your company’s green efforts are well-supported.

Mitigates Risk

If you’re shredding papers onsite at your office and then placing them in a recycling bin, you may feel you’re contributing towards a greener environment and that your information is secure. But how do you know your confidential information is securely recycled?

To ensure both sustainability and safety, utilize professional destruction services that drop off locked containers on your premises. These shred bins should be routinely transported in a GPS-tracked vehicle by licensed technicians to a highly-secure facility where they are safely destroyed and recycled.

What’s the Recycling Process for Shredded Paper?

After documents are shredded, they are transported to a paper mill for recycling. At the mill, destroyed information is placed in large vats filled with water and chemicals to dissolve them into tiny fibers. Ink and adhesive are removed, and paper fibers start to bond together. Broken-down fibers are then pressed and dried. Finally, the fibers are used to manufacture lower-quality paper products such as paper plates, napkins, and coffee filters.

Which Type of Shredding Program is Right for You?

At Vital Records Control (VRC), we want you to focus on your business, not worried about shredding paper. Our team works with you to learn more about your needs to find the right destruction solution for your company. We can help if you’re a big or small company, paper-dependent, or moving to paperless. Contact us to learn more about our offsite shredding services.

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