100% of the document shredded by FileShred are recycled.
Having personal and confidential documents shredded are important to protect sensitive and private information but it also has an additional benefit, it helps to protect and preserve the environment and our precious natural resources.
Shredding Saves Natural Resources
Just one ton of shredded paper that gets recycled will save 17 trees, 7000 gallons of water, 2 barrels of oil, 4100 kilowatts of energy, and three cubic yards of landfill space.
How Is Shredded Paper Recycled
When FileShred arrives at your location with our paper destruction truck your paper goes to an industrial shredder, the destruction of your documents is only the initial step in the process. Professional grade shredders make any information on legal documents, medical records, and financial papers not readable and irrecoverable so the information can’t be accessed again.
After shredding, the paper is transported to a facility so it can be compressed into large bails and are held together with wire straps that look like large bricks so they are easier to ship. These bails are then loaded onto tractor-trailers to be sent to a paper mill. At the paper mills, the bails are unloaded and then put into a vat where the wire holding it together is cut and the bails chopped into pieces, and water is added with heat to break down the paper into fibers which are also referred to as pulp.
Next, the pulp goes through several screens to remove things like staples, paper clips, rubber bands, plastics, and any other contaminants.
Any Ink will be removed, as well as glue or any other types of adhesives. Then the paper is refined through a compression process to make it ready to become new paper. Sometimes a bleaching agent will be added to make the pulp a uniform white color.
The pulp is sprayed onto screens, water is drained, and the pulp bonds into sheets. It is then rolled and heated to remove any remaining moisture. The sheets are wound into rolls off paper ready to be used to make any number of paper products.
Use of Recovered Paper
Better than one-third of raw materials used at US paper mills is recovered paper. More than three-quarters of America’s paper mills use recovered paper fiber to make some or all of their products. Approximately 140 mills use recovered paper exclusively. As a result, virtually all types of paper products contain some recycled paper fiber. The increase in paper recovery is attributable to strong demand overseas for US recovered paper and solid gains in domestic consumption.
Call FileShred to Shred & Recycle Your Documents
We offer residents and businesses an easy way to securely destroy and recycle documents and files. We will come to your home, office, or any location you are storing records and shred them there. We offer one-time shredding when you occasionally need to destroy papers or an ongoing document destruction service that puts the shredding of your files on a regular schedule. Give us a call to speak to one of our experts to get pricing and make an appointment.
