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Can You Recycle Shredded Paper?

One of the biggest advantages of professional paper shredding is that you do not have to worry about how to dispose of your destroyed documents. With recycling standards varying from neighborhood to neighborhood, it can be tough to figure out what exactly you can throw away. Can you recycle shredded paper? Or do destroyed documents belong in the regular trash?

Can You Recycle Shredded Paper?

Secure Shred offers insights that can help you understand where exactly your shredded paper goes. We employ very high standards of compliance and environmental safety with all of our materials. Using our professional equipment and techniques, we guarantee to recycle all destroyed products. This includes shredded paper, plastics, and other items.

Why You Cannot Recycle Shredded Paper Everywhere

We always recommend that you bring your documents to a secure shredding facility. They are equipped to both destroy and dispose of your papers. You could shred documents using your own machines, technically. But you cannot always throw them away into the nearest recycling bin. Depending on the recycling plant that your trash goes to, paper shreds may discarded before they can be recycled.

This is because the recycling plants utilize a process that breaks paper down into a pulp, where it can be reformed into other paper products. Shredded paper can get stuck in the machines or ball up too easily, creating a clog. Unless a recycling plant has the specific machinery to deal with shredded paper, it will not recycle your old documents and will instead send them to the landfill.

The Best Way to Recycle Shredded Paper

According to the American Forest & Paper Association, you should only shred documents when absolutely necessary. We encourage you to shred anything that is secure or that contains personal information, such as check stubs, credit card bills, employee information, and social security info. Regular mail, holiday cards, books, and file folders should be disposed of in a different way.

You may not have the means to shred and recycle your sensitive documents by yourself. That is why professional shredding services exist to help you get rid of sensitive information without having a negative impact on the environment. Our experts can offer you with a variety of options for recycling your documents and information while helping you reuse as many of your products as possible.

How Secure Shredd Can Help

In addition to paper document shredding, we also offer the destruction of hard drives. We can ethically and successfully wipe your drives and give them back to you for reuse. This is a preferable alternative to throwing away plastic and metal devices, which are not biodegradable and contribute to waste.

Recycled paper can be reused many times. For decades, recycled paper has assisted in the recreation of new paper products, from containers and boxes to newsprint and journals. You can still successfully recycle your documents even if you do not know what your local recycling plant will handle. Simply put your shreds in a paper bag, staple it shut, and put it in your recycling!

Sustainable Shredding and Recycling Methods Are Available Now

As a premier on-site data and document destruction company, Secure Shred employs a number of tools and techniques to get rid of your materials the right way. We can help you successfully recycle your shredded documents, whether or not they once contained sensitive information. Also, we also encourage you to check out our additional recycling services. We can also help you reduce or reuse your plastic goods. We pride ourselves on finding innovative ways to recycle your goods without increasing our carbon footprint. Learn more about what we do when you get in touch with us today!