Behind the scenes at Shred-it
Published: April 06, 2011
BURLINGTON, N.C. -- Burlington, North Carolina is home to Biscuitville, Gold Toe Socks, and Shred It. NBC-17 partners with Shred It to help consumers safely and securely dispose of personal documents for free.
Shred It's business idea is pretty simple.
Their trucks come to you, take your documents and turn it into tiny little shreds of paper, right in front of you. Those tiny shreds of paper then become more paper and even a roll of paper towels.
But their trucks aren't as simple and inside, well, it's not your standard run of the mill paper shredder.
"These shredders right here are really strong, powerful shredders," describes Chad King, a customer service representative for Shred It. "I've seen them eat a crow bar before, that's how powerful they are."
According to Shred It Sales Manager Roy Davenport, on an average week, anywhere from 12 to 13 shredding trucks go our on the road. The company covers 80 percent of the state and each truck can hold about 10,000 pounds.
"So, you figure we're probably shredding in excess of a half million pounds a week, which is probably 26 to 27 hundred trees a week we're saving," says Davenport.
Once the truck has finished its run for the day, it heads back to the warehouse to clean it out.
The tiny shreds of paper go into a bailer, which turns the paper into a rock hard bail that needs a fork lift to be moved.
After the paper is shredded and then bailed, it's brought into giant trailers.