Why Shredding Documents Could Make Recycling Impossible

shredding paper can have negative effects

Every office will likely need to shred documents at some point. Your office documents may contain sensitive data that must be periodically destroyed. However, did you know that shredded documents cannot be recycled effectively? Here are the reasons why shredding documents may not be environmentally friendly.

Shredding Documents: Pros and Cons

Shredding documents isn’t entirely without its benefits. For one, it allows businesses to destroy proprietary and personal information. Shredding documents also allows companies to minimize the space that’s taken up by paper waste.

However, shredded paper is extremely difficult to recycle effectively. As a comparison, unshredded paper can be recycled up to eight times. Shredded paper can typically only be recycled once. That means shredded paper has a greater negative impact on the environment.

What Can Businesses Do?

shredding documents can have negative environmental effects
Shredded paper can’t be recycled as many times as unshredded paper.

To reduce the negative environmental impacts of shredding documents, offices can get rid of paper entirely. Offices can go digital with all their paper products, including bills, contracts, and mail. Not only will this reduce their paper waste, but it can make your office a much more productive workplace as well.

For example, traditional mail can take days or weeks to arrive. That means that an office might have to wait days or weeks before receiving the documentation they need to finish their work. If these documents are sent securely through email instead, processes can go faster, and projects can be completed earlier. Furthermore, destroying electronic documents is much quicker and easier, and it doesn’t take up any physical space. In fact, you can forgo deleting documents entirely and, instead, keep them on hand indefinitely.

Do you have sensitive documents that you need to dispose of? At Sunrise Sanitation, we offer tailored recycling solutions to help you get rid of documents in a safe and environmentally friendly way. Ask us about our commercial services!

 

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