9 Ways a One-Time Paper Clean Out Helps the Environment

9 Ways a One-Time Shredding Service Impacts the Environment

1. A professional shredding company makes paper recycling an integral part of its process. After securely shredding documents, the remaining confetti-like pieces are bundled together and the bales are sent to an approved recycling facility.
2. Paper recycling helps keep paper out of landfills. Paper still accounts for up to 40% of all the trash that goes into landfills. Paper recycling can help reduce that volume of waste, according to ThoughtCo. Recycling one tonne of waste paper can save about 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space.
3. A Shred-it All Policy (at work and home) means documents are never put into the recycling bin or garbage can – or sent to a landfill. Information thieves dig through these containers looking for confidential documents that they can use for identity theft and other crimes. Last year, 16.7 million U.S. consumers were victims of identity fraud according to the 2018 Identity Fraud Study.
4. Recycling paper can help prevent the release of greenhouse gases, also called carbon emissions. They are created when the paper starts to decompose in the landfill.
5. Document shredding and recycling saves lots of actual trees. The Shred-it fact sheet showed that recycling one tonne of waste paper can save about 17 trees from being cut down and turned into wood pulp.
6. More recycling means less deforestation. Trees use carbon dioxide and give off oxygen in its place, this helps to create the optimal balance of gases in the atmosphere. Research showed that 17 trees can absorb 250 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air every year.
7. Making less new paper helps conserve natural resources (water and energy) used in the manufacturing process, and reduces the use of harmful chemicals like limestone, sulphur, and bleach. Plus, using recycled paper to make new paper uses 30 to 50% less energy than making paper from trees.
8. Recycling helps reduce pollution. In earlier research, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that recycling causes 35% less water pollution and 74% less air pollution than making virgin paper.
9. Document shredding and recycling support the goal set by the American Forest and Paper Association to increase U.S. paper recovery for recycling to over 70% by 2020. So far, paper recovery has reached or exceeded 63% each year since 2009. Paper recovery was 65.8% in 2017.  

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