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There are two ways to go about destroying your personal and business documents, and that’s through on-site or off-site shredding. Off-site shredding involves documents transported to a local plant, where they are presumably destroyed alongside a host of other items. On the other hand, on-site shredding is done outside your home or place of business using a specialized shredding truck. Typically, the documents are brought to the truck in boxes or en masse by identifiable, bondable, and insurable employees; a receipt is then given immediately afterward and the customer is usually billed by the minute, pound, box, or with a flat rate. While both are acceptable ways to eliminate sensitive material, on-site shredding actually lets you see the disposal in action, giving you the peace of mind that all paperwork and electronics are irrevocably destroyed.

Either way that you do it, shredding is one of the most effective methods against company fraud and exploitation. According to the Wall Street Journal, about 25 percent of reported data-breaches originate from paper fraud. When the wrong person dishonestly acquires personal information, it doesn’t take long for them to assume that identity and start buying, borrowing, renting, or trading under that fake name. With on-site document destruction, you’ll not only be able to witness the documents being shredded, but it you’ll be able to pay on the spot, and the whole process won’t take up much time at all.

Another primary reason that an increasing number of businesses are investing in off- or on-site shredding is to go green! According to the Wall Street Journal and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), every single ton of paper recycled and reused saves about 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space. Also, investing in on- and off-site shredding takes up much less time than having an employee run a few sheets of paper through a mobile shredder. In fact, when author Judith Briles participated in a shred-a-thon, she reported that she successfully shredded approximately 400 lbs. of bills, master’s thesis research documents, and bank statements (from as far back as 1980) in under five minutes!

Here at Absolute Destruction, we also offer paper recycling services. We are committed to saving space in overburdened landfills and to preserving forests, and reusing paper is one effective way to do this. It’s really only necessary to shred documents that contain personal, financial, and other sensitive information. Otherwise, it’s better to recycle non-sensitive papers in standard fashion.

On-site and off-site shredding services don’t stop with hardcopy paper shredding and recycling; we are also happy to safely and thoroughly destroy all electronic data from discs, phones, and computer systems. We want to ensure that your information is secure and always in the right hands. Trust us to help you solve your disposal issues, keep your company or household committed to green practices, and feel calm and secure knowing your materials will never be read, seen, downloaded, or scanned again!