The fastest growing consumer fraud is identity theft. One solution to help combat identity theft is by shredding your documents. Paper shredders are used in a variety of environments ranging from homes to large offices. They are often used to shred receipts, credit card statements, bank statements, and other sensitive documents.
Paper Shredder Types
- Home Paper Shredders – Light and Portable
- Office Paper Shredders – Cuts Several Sheets at a Time
- High Volume Paper Shredders – High Volume – High Speed
- Industrial Paper Shredders – Extreme High Volume – Speed
- High Security Paper Shredders – DOD – Fine Shredding
Things to Shred
- Checks
- ID’s
- Bank Statements
- CC Receipts
- Pay Stubs
Paper shredders consist of a pair of rotating cutting blades, a paper comber, and a motor that drives this assembly. Paper is fed between the two intermeshing blades and is split into many pieces by the force of the blades. They are used in a variety of environments ranging from homes to large offices and are often used to shred receipts, credit card statements, bank statements, and other sensitive documents. A shredder provides document security and helps prevent identity theft.
Featured Article #1: Choosing a Paper Shredder
Featured Article #2: Paper Shredder Safety
Things to Consider Before Purchasing a Shredder
- Material Sensitivity
- Size of the Paper
- Materials you are Shredding
- Duration of Use
- Sheets at a Time
Shredder Cuts
Strip Cut Shredders – Strip cut shredders cut paper into long strips. Shred widths of 1/4″ or less are suitable for confidential, privacy act, and other non-classified documents. This type of shredder provides maximum sheet capacity at a low cost. Straight cut ranges from secure 5/32″ (3.8 mm) wide strips to a very fast 1/2″ (11.8-mm) wide strips (primarily for older and less sensitive documentation).
Strip cut paper shredders are generally faster than their cross cut counterpart but do not provide as much security. The width of the strips vary among shredders; thinner strips are better for higher security applications. Strip cut shredders are usually cheaper and require less maintenance than cross cut shredders.
Features to look for when choosing a strip cut shredder:
- Sheet Speed
- Sheet Capacity
- Shred Size
- Opening Size
- Waste Volume
Cross Cut Shredders – cut paper into small pieces. Not only does this provide additional security, but it also improves waste efficiency. Since these smaller pieces are more compact they provide a shredding reduction that can increase shred bag capacity 100%. Cross cut ranges from a highly secure 1/32″ x 1/2″ (0.8 x 12 mm) to a fast and secure 5/32″ x 2 9/16″ (3.8 x 65 mm).
Cross cut paper shredders are great for jobs that require maximum security for more confidential documents. A cross cut shredder shreds paper both vertically and horizontally. This creates small pieces that make the document nearly impossible to recover. The downside to cross cut shredders is that they require frequent maintenance and lubrication (shredder oil). Cross cut shredders are also more expensive than the strip cut style. For the highest security requirements (such as military contractors), there are high security particle cut models that can shred a page into more than 1,500 pieces.
Features to look for when choosing a cross cut shredder:
- Sheet Speed
- Sheet Capacity
- Shred Size
- Opening Size
- Waste Volume
Specialty Shredders
Cardboard Shredders – Is your shipping and receiving department backed up with boxes? Boxes add up to a lot of space and money, and why should it? With a cardboard shredder you can take those stacks of empty boxes and shred them into large volume filler/packaging material ideal for any warehouse, packaging company and any business with shipping needs. No need to pay for the disposal of boxes, and then to pay for packaging material, because a cardboard shredder can do it for you saving your business money through efficiency.
CD Shredders – Do you have stacks of CDs lying around the office, some with important information? CDs can hold up to 500 times the amount of information that a floppy disk can. That is a lot of megabytes of sensitive information, which can easily be copied or stolen if it falls into the wrong hands. Eliminate this threat of stolen top-secret documents with a CD shredder. Tearing through CDs, as per Department of Defense (DOD) standards, these shredders leave CDs as just small chunks of unreadable and unusable plastic.
HIPAA Shredders – Paper shredders are needed to comply with HIPAA. New regulations by the US Government mandate that doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies protect the privacy of their clients and patients by destroying sensitive documents. Medical records, customer data, labels, lab reports and invoices must be completely destroyed before disposal. The use of a paper shredder is vital since paper shredding services are not cost-effective, and can actually increase your security risk.
Shredding Services – Off-site Shredding
Shredding services provide an economical and cost effective solution for paper shredding that allows companies to outsource their shredding needs to companies that specialize in document destruction. This type of off-site shredding is said to save at least 10%-20% compared to using your own equipment and resources. There are a number of industrial paper shredding solutions available that offer secure off-site disposal.
Shredding Paper clips and Staples – Shredders with finer cuts are typically more susceptible to damage from metal fasteners & debris like paper clips and staples. A large strip cut shredder should probably be able to mow through paper clips for years without any noticeable decrease in performance (the (SPP) sheets per pass may fall as the blades become dull). A single staple can easily damage a high security or high volume shredder, used for classified document destruction. If you don’t require high security document destruction, you may want to consider a shredding device with a larger cut. A strip cut or lower level cross cut should do the trick.
Paper Shredding and Oil – Paper Shredders need oil. Paper dust builds up inside the cutting assembly and packs together like cement. Oil softens packed dust, which allows the movement of the blade head to push it out. The smaller the cut, the more oil it needs. Small particle cut shredders and D.O.D. spec machines require a lot of oil. Special Thanks to Compax.com for providing the Paper Shredder information above.
Vendors with Government Contracts
Having a GSA Schedule Contract greatly simplifies the challenge of selling to the Federal Government. Every GSA Schedule Contract contains pre-negotiated products, warranties, delivery times, discounts, and the appropriate terms and conditions. Prices are already deemed fair and reasonable and every contract is in compliance with all applicable laws and Federal Regulations. When the Government purchases your products and services through your GSA Schedule Contract, it eliminates the need for submission of RFPs (Request for Proposals) and RFQs (Request for Quotes), competition comparison, and lengthy negotiations. With a GSA Schedule Contract and sole source procurement, you’ll quickly find yourself winning Government business.
Do I qualify for GSA pricing?
The GSA contract is open (so you can buy from them) to any federal agency, local city, state or county government, school district, universities and non-profit organizations that are government funded. Government contractors that their specific business is supplying the federal government are also eligible.
Shredder Security Levels – Other Information
- Security L#1 – 3/8 Inch Strip/Cross Cut
- Security L#2 – 1/8 – 1/4 Strip Cut
- Security L#3 – 1/8 x 1/8 Cross Cut – 1/16 Strip
- Security L#4 – 1/16 x 5/8 Cross Cut
- Security L#5 – DOD approved 1/32 x 1/2 Cross cut
- Security L#6 – DOD approved 1/26 x 1/5 Cross cut
*DOD – Department of Defense
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