Discover the benefits of using paper shredding services to remove your documents. Learn about the different types of paper shredding services.
Managers have many small, day to day challenges while overseeing a business. While some responsibilities are obvious, such as helping employees and meeting with clients, there are smaller tasks even the most prepared managers overlook until they become an issue. A common issue that catches managers off guard is getting rid of documents. Depending on your business, there are certain steps you must take to properly dispose business documents.
Businesses cannot throw away documents that contain sensitive information about clients. For example, any type of document with a credit card transaction is considered sensitive information. This applies to all of your documents, including business receipts, annual reports and even presentations which contain customer information. Many businesses also have internal information they do not want to leak to the public. While the switch to digital documents has eliminated the need for some document disposal, there are still many paper documents generated each month. To keep these documents from building up and overflowing your storage, you must destroy the documents using paper shredding.
Paper Shredding Services
While the name may seem dated, paper shredding services have evolved over the years to keep up with digital trends. While many of their services still focus on removing physical documents, there are also additional options to dispose of digital media. The elimination does not focus on the files themselves. Instead, paper shredding services physically destroy hard drives, back up tapes and mobile devices. There are also additional options to eliminate X-rays, microfilm, ID badges and magnetic media.
The main benefit of using paper shredding services instead of destroying documents on your own is paper shredding services know all the regulations to follow. If you fail to improperly shred documents, even if you are confident the information is inaccessible, you can get in legal trouble. Not only will you have to pay fines, but customers may lose trust in you if they hear you are not securing their information. Whenever you are searching for a paper shredding service, check to see if the business has certification from the National Association of Information Destruction (NAID). This ensures the company is following all the laws and procedures for document destruction.
Recycling Shredded Documents
Another benefit of hiring a paper shredding service is the company handles the removal of the shredded documents. Shredding documents produces a great deal of waste. In bulk, there is too much paper to toss in the company recycling. It is wasteful to throw the paper away, and may reflect poorly if an agency discovers your company is wasting so much paper. As part of the removal process, the majority of paper shredding companies include removal.
Some companies will process the recycling process themselves, while others ship the waste to a third-party service. Some paper shredding businesses build the recycling into the fees, while others charge an additional fee. In these circumstances, you may be able to go to a recycling service yourself, but it is often easier, and sometimes even less expensive, to pay the charge. If you are concerned about the extra fees, prioritize paper shredding businesses that either run a paper bailing operation, or include free removal as part of the services.
Paper Shredding Methods
There are two primary paper shredding methods, drop-off and onsite. Drop-off is typically the less expensive option because it requires less effort for the shredding company. With this method, you bring all your documents directly to the shredding company. On average, it takes longer for drop-off destruction to occur, ranging from several days to a few weeks. Once the documents are destroyed, you receive a Certificate of Destruction.
Drop-off shredding companies frequently have a limit on how many documents you can deliver at a single time. This is usually determined by a weight limit, while others use container size as the deciding factor. As a result, it is commonly used by smaller businesses. Larger companies that do not generate as much paper, or store most of their information digitally, may also benefit from drop-off shredding.
Onsite paper shredding is more convenient. The shredding service brings secure collection containers directly to your workplace. In most situations, your business is responsible for filling up the bins. This is usually done because of disposal rules and regulations, keeping the information from being seen by a third party.
Once all the containers are filled up, the company brings them into a mobile shredding vehicle. The shredding occurs instantaneously, so you do not have to wait for a certificate showing the documents were destroyed. Onsite paper shredding uses advanced methods to get rid of documents. At drop-off locations, the company uses traditional shredding machinery, which reduces the documents into strips. Onsite companies completely destroy the documents, breaking them into tiny pieces that are impossible to reconstruct.
Average Paper Shredding Costs
There are a few factors that determine the cost of paper shredding services. The first is whether you sign up for one-time services, or subscribe for ongoing services. On average, a one-time onsite shredding costs between $120 to $150. In comparison, one-time drop off is between $80 to $100. If you sign up for ongoing services, it is between $45 to $70 for onsite, or $30 to $50 for drop off.