Lots of us now have shredders in our homes and offices to destroy information. They are quick, quiet and inexpensive devices which help us destroy personal and confidential information with the minimum of fuss.  The issue that is often overlooked is how to actually recycle the paper after you’ve shredded it  .

Unfortunately many organizations won’t accept paper in a shredded for various reasons.. Many recycling organizations won’t accept shredded paper for various reasons .

Probably the major reason is that of safety, certainly processing shredded paper can be dangerous.. It’s awkward to handle and sort, falls off conveyor belts, gets tangled in machinery and also represents a tangible fire risk. There is also a difficulty with sorting, many processing units are unable to sort or detect paper the size of shredded paper.

When you combine this with the fact that shredded paper actually reduces the fiber length of the paper. This will, actually, reduce the quality and strength of any paper produced from this recycling. You can see why many companies would rather not deal with huge amounts of shredded paper.

So what’s the solution?

Of course the first thing you should do is check with your local recycling organizations, some companies have the facilities to deal with this paper easily. . If not try and reduce the amount of paper that you do shred, of course all confidential and personal papers should be shredded but often we get into a habit of shredding everything.

There’s an obvious alternative to use the shredded paper for composting  , although it cannot obviously be recycled then – it can be used or disposed of much more easily. I certainly don’t advocate not destroying confidential information, but it’s worth considering the best option for the environment..

Read how you can save money and reduce land fill by refilling your printer with compatible toner refills and many other green tips like paper shredding.