Countless individuals, governments, organizations, and businesses are coming to recognize the importance of creating an environmentally sustainable or “green” society, and the shredding industry is no different.
One of the fundamental components of sustainable shredding includes recycling, which allows the reuse of paper shreds for other paper products like paper towels, napkins, or new paper itself.
Today many providers have already adopted sustainable shredding practices and now offer environmentally-friendly services, but not only because it’s the right thing to do—it also helps to further destroy any sensitive information remaining on the documents they shred.
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Commitment to Sustainable Shredding
What Makes Paper Shredding Sustainable?
How The Sustainable Disposal Process Works Post-Shredding
Considerations to Keep In Mind
Additional Resources
Download the Full Version of this White Paper (PDF)
Commitment to Sustainable Shredding
The Greek root of the word recycle is “cycl”, meaning circle, and when it comes to the recycling process and sustainable shredding, the circle can have a quite literal meaning.
Rather than beginning at a piece of paper’s production and ending at the time of its final disposal, recycling post-shredding instead creates a circular lifespan where there truly is no beginning or end of a piece of paper’s period of use.
With this process, once the paper is ready for disposal it’s shredded, recycled, and sustainably reused rather than going to a landfill. This way completes the paper’s “circle of life” without missing any critical steps like removing sensitive personal and proprietary information along the way.
Throughout this in-depth white paper, we provide a breakdown of what it means to have your paper waste sustainably shredded—taking a closer look at both the sustainable paper shredding and recycling process and what makes paper shredding an environmentally friendly service.
What Makes Shredding Sustainable?
The fundamental idea behind recycling and sustainability is the process of creating new paper products from already used paper. Luckily, there is no shortage of paper in the shredding industry.
But where does paper shredding come into play with a sustainable recycling process? While some may not even realize it, many shredding providers have implemented recycling processes after shredding out of recognition for environmental sustainability.
The benefit of these sustainable services is not only a boost to business reputations by adopting green paper disposal practices. However, the recycling process can also work to ensure the security of the sensitive information businesses and individuals are having shredded.
Here, we take a closer look at several of the environmentally friendly aspects of sustainable paper shredding, including:
How Shredded Paper Is Recycled
Nearly all of Shred Nations’ partners implement “green” shredding processes and business practices. They recycle their paper shreds so they can reuse them later.
To begin the process, documents are collected and shredded using either mobile shredding, offsite shredding, or drop-off shredding. Afterward, the paper shreds are placed in a vat where a mixture of chemicals separates any ink from the paper itself.
With the paper now broken down into basic and reusable components, it’s then mixed with water to make a pulp before being washed, refined, and prepared to begin the paper-making process anew.
The beauty of this paper recycling process is that you can recover all necessary paper fibers from the countless pounds of paper people throw away each day, rather than using fresh resources.
By the time the process is finished, the recycled paper can be sustainably reused to manufacture paper products such as paper napkins, plates, or new paper.
Recycling offers businesses and individuals a dual advantage. It provides peace of mind they’re doing the environmentally right thing, but with all the same assurance their sensitive personal or proprietary information has been safely shredded and destroyed.
Helping Document Disposal to Go Green
Many modern organizations and companies have found themselves based on recycling and a “green” paper disposal process. Today, discarded paper in normal trash cans still unfortunately represents 26 million tons (16%) of all landfill waste.
With America currently throwing away more paper waste rather than shredding or recycling, businesses or individuals might think, “What’s the big deal? Doesn’t paper decompose naturally?”
Contrary to this assumption, however, according to environmental data from The World Counts on paper use, waste, and recycling, discarded paper, and paper pulp are actually the third largest polluters of air, soil, and water.
Rather than harmlessly decomposing as one might believe, rotting paper emits methane gas. These fumes are 25 times more toxic to the environment than CO2 gases. By shredding and recycling this paper, on the other hand, businesses and individuals can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from paper now in landfills.
How the Sustainable Disposal Process Works Post-Shredding
Dumpster divers have long made recycling papers with personal or proprietary information potentially risky because of the potential for identity theft or fraud and can lead to costly and time-consuming privacy and security issues if documents are not safely destroyed before they’re disposed of.
To counter security threats, paper shredding is often the first recommendation for protecting sensitive documents. Luckily, our shredding services work to make this process a greener way of handling and disposing of paper too.
Many of our shredding providers offer recycling as an included part of their services. They use environmentally friendly practices to sustainably provide the shredding services needed by individuals and businesses to maintain security throughout a document’s lifetime.
To give an idea of the impact recycling paper after shredding can have, here are just a few facts to consider:
- Printing a New York Times Sunday edition requires 75,000 trees.
- Individuals in America consume more than 700 pounds of paper every year per person.
- Compounding this, offices in the United States use approximately 12.1 trillion sheets of paper every year. Of these, 45% of the paper used in offices is trashed instead of recycled according to The Paperless Project.
- Today, the paper represents 26 million tons (16%) of all landfill waste. It’s rotting and emitting toxic methane gas into the atmosphere.
- By recycling and reusing 1 ton of paper on the other hand, we can save 17 fully-matured trees, 26,500 liters of water, and 680 gallons of oil.
- Per ton, using recycled paper to manufacture new paper products can cut energy consumption by 65% and water consumption by 58%. Additionally, it eliminates as much as 60 lbs of air pollutant emissions.
Considerations to Keep In Mind
Recycling is an excellent way for businesses and individuals alike to do their part in creating an environmentally sustainable society, but you must also consider the security of the documents you recycle.
With sustainable shredding, on the other hand, you’re taking care of two birds with one stone. Your service provider will securely transport and shred the paper before recycling. With a normal recycling plant, there are no assurances of the privacy and security document shredding services can provide.
As you consider how you plan to get rid of any old papers and documents shortly, be sure to keep these last few thoughts in mind:
How Do You Handle Recycling Security?
If you’re recycling paper waste instead of hauling it off with the normal trash, you’re at least doing your part to create a greener world. However, have you ensured any sensitive information you’re recycling is secure? To balance both sustainability with security, consider shredding and recycling services to safeguard against identity theft or fraud.
Do Shredding Service Providers Recycle the Documents They Shred?
Shred Nations’ shredding partners keep pace not only with other major industries but with the rest of the larger global community as well. Many have made strides to incorporate sustainable business practices into their everyday shredding. They provide both a convenient and environmentally friendly alternative for paper disposal.
Get Free Quotes from Committed Providers Near You
There’s no disputing the economic and environmental benefits of green document destruction processes. With the help of sustainable shredding services, homes, and businesses can sidestep the inconvenience of personal shredders while still ensuring they can recycle and reuse their documents.
At Shred Nations, we partner with a nationwide network of the top providers in sustainable shredding, with services ranging from mobile and offsite services powered by low-fuel consumption and emission trucks, to drop-off locations with recycling as an included part of their services. To learn more about environmentally sustainable shredding practices or to get a free estimate, just give us a call at (800) 747-3365, or simply fill out the form.
Additional Shredding and Recycling Resources
How Do Shredding Services Stay Green?
When it comes to document shredding, it may be hard to initially believe how an industry built on document destruction would do anything but create paper waste. But when taking a closer look, one can see how recycling processes post-shredding are working to create a sustainable cycle for reusing paper bits for new products time and time again.
The Differences Between Recycling and Shredding Paper
Most people have heard about recycling and how it benefits our environment. How many know the difference between just recycling, and secure recycling? Rather than throwing papers whole into a recycling bin, ensure to protect the sensitive information you’re disposing of with the help of secure shredding and recycling services.
Staying Sustainable: How Document Scanning and Record Storage Services Do Their Part
Papers, documents, and records in a variety of formats play a huge role in both work and home life. While the paper shredding industry is stepping up with greener business practices, document scanning and record storage services still have plenty to offer. Learn more about how scanning and storage help to create a more sustainable environment with its complements to shredding along with its contributions as well.
