3 things you should look for in a shredding company

If you're looking for a company to destroy your sensitive documents, it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes and his powers of deduction to know you care for the security of your business, your associates and your clientele.

That is why you want your paperwork or records, or whatever it may be to be shredded, right?

It would be pointless then to purchase the services of a non-secure, fly-by-night document destruction operation.

So how does one know the difference between one of these and a reputable shredding outfit?

Image of mobile shredding truck in downtown Oklahoma City.

When checking out a potential document destruction solution, find out the answers to these questions.
 

  • Do they recycle or dump? — Find out what happens to the paper once it’s shredded.  Do they haul it to a dump or do they bring it someplace where ultimately it while be turned into pulp and back into paper? (Hint: The latter is better as through the recycling process, your documents will be thoroughly destroyed, beyond anything that anybody or any technology can piece back together — and besides, it’s better for the environment.
     
  • Do they shred on-site or off-site? — See if they haul your documents to a facility where they get shredded, or do they shred it onsite, where you can see and hear those massive ferrous teeth tearing and thrashing your documents to bits, and go knowing that you and yours’ information is ripped to oblivion.
     
  • Are they certified? — Does the company carry certification(s) showing they are familiar with and compliant with all shredding laws (Yes, there are such things) and standards? Are they NAID (National Association for Information Destruction) certified, for example, meaning that they are held to high standards, subjected to yearly and random audits for legal and best practices standards compliance? Such audits check for things like if the shred tech’s paperwork is all in order, if he or she is wearing a badge and uniform and that the mobile shred unit and containers are locked at all times or accompanied by the shred tech, among other qualifications.

With these tips on what to look for in a reputable document destruction outfit, hopefully you’ll be able to weed out the good from the bad.

Happy shredding!

You can go to the NAID website to check out who are the NAID certified document destruction companies in your area.

And of course, if you are in the Oklahoma City area, perhaps you would be interested in our own AAA NAID certified mobile shredding services. To learn more, click here or call 405-605-8888.