Outsourced and In-House Document Shredding Compared

Most businesses understand the importance of preventing identity theft and corporate espionage through document shredding, although many lack a program to ensure that the data belonging to their customers and employees isn’t compromised. Records disposal is typically handled in one of two ways: internally or with an outsourced paper shredding service. We’ve broken down both methods to help you determine which one keeps your business information the safest.

Time Equals Money

Each day your company loses revenue due to time spent on shredding. Staff time spent on operating office shredders is significant, especially when you consider the many steps that go into shredding a single file:

• remove paper clips, staples and sticky notes
• separate the document into easily shredded portions
• clear paper jams
• empty the shredding receptacle
• clean up any spilled shredded material
• toss bag of shredded material in dumpster

While all this is being done, revenue-generating tasks are put on hold.

With a professional shredding and destruction service, confidential documents can be securely disposed of in a fraction of the time it takes to use an office shredder. Whole files can be disposed of in a matter of seconds rather than minutes. Because the process is less time-consuming and frustrating, sensitive paperwork is more likely to be disposed of properly and in a timely manner.

Method Matters

The next time you empty the receptacle on your shredding machine, take a closer look at the paper inside; you’ll notice that your documents have been shredded into strips. The bag of shredded material is tossed into a dumpster where “dumpster divers” are able to grab it and reassemble it.

A professional shredding and destruction service uses technology that destroys paper by shredding it into bits of unrecognizable confetti-like particles too small to be reconstructed. Shredded material from multiple clients is combined and recycled, making it impossible for a thief to grab your shredded information. An outsourced solution gives you the secure knowledge that of your information remains secure after disposal.

Risk and Liability

Your company has a responsibility to meet state and federal requirements regarding privacy protection. Failure to ensure proper and reliable document disposal may subject your business to:

• fines and penalties
• civil damage
• criminal liability

Without verification of disposal, proving your adherence to legal and regulatory requirements is nearly impossible. A professional shredding and destruction solution provides a Certificate of Destruction that can be used to verify your information has been destroyed by a licensed and bonded company in support of legal requirements.

Reducing Paper Waste

It’s not uncommon for material that is shredded internally to be dumped along with other office trash. However, shredded paper can-and should-be recycled. Recycling is an important step in any professional shredding and destruction solution. After the document destruction process has been completed, all shredded material is baled and transferred to a recycling facility where it is reused in a variety of consumer and business products.

Records Management Center provides professional shredding and destruction solutions to businesses throughout Augusta, Evans, Thomson, and Martinez, GA, and Aiken, SC and the Central Savannah River Area. For more information please contact us by phone or complete the form on this page.