The True Costs Of In-House Shredding

Monday, June 5, 2017 7:35 pm, Posted by Absolute Destruction

Time and time again, the team at Absolute Destruction are asked why a business would outsource their shredding to a company like us when they could do in-house shredding for free. Well, free is the operative word. Having your employees shred large quantities of paper isn’t as economical as you think. Keep reading to see our general breakdown of the costs you can expect from shredding in-house.

The Cost of Buying & Maintaining an Office Shredding

First up is purchasing your office’s shredder. While it may seem favourable to buy a machine outright over the monthly invoices you would receive from our crew, it’s not so simple. Sure, you have to buy the machine itself, which can cost you anywhere between $700 and $10,000 depending on its size and power output. But then you have to factor in its depreciation and maintenance.

It’s a running gag that shredders (as well as printers) will jam with just a scrap of paper. Unless the issues causing the backup are obvious, you’ll have to call in and pay for a repair service to unclog your machine. If not, you’ll have to replace it altogether.

The Cost of Employees Shredding Their Own Documents

Secondly, you’ll have to think about all of the time your employees will spend on shredding. It’s time intensive to prepare documents so that they’re ready for the shredder, as most commercial shredders won’t go through staples or large stacks of papers. Your employees will be wasting time taking out staples and portioning their mountain of paper into easily shredded rations.

You also run the risk of shredding poorly. Most commercial shredders sold to offices only use the strip-cut technique — which means the blades merely cut the paper into strips. This technique leaves the information you’ve shredded at risk, as it’s incredibly easy to piece these strips back together.

The Cost of Non-Compliance

Our second point ties into the third. Human error can set your business up for failure. Employee negligence (whether through ignorance or malice) can expose confidential information — either paper that should be shredded gets tossed with the regular garbage or the individual tasked with emptying the machine simply leaves the refuse in the recycling bin. The latter scenario wouldn’t be such a problem if it weren’t for the fact that strip-cut shredders fail to destroy documents thoroughly enough.

The PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) necessitates businesses take the appropriate steps to prevent exposure of customer data. If you fail to do so, even because it’s due to an employee’s mistake, your company will face significant fines, as well as probable public backlash as news of your leak hits the web.

Avoiding these costs is simple: just schedule our on-site commercial shredding services. It eliminates the need to buy and maintain your own equipment and pay for the time it takes your employees to use. Our NAID-certified practices also ensure your office is always compliant with all laws regarding the destruction of personal information.

If you’d like to see how our prices compare to running an in-house shredding operation, speak with our representatives. We can explain the benefits of mobile shredding services and arrange a pick-up schedule that’s convenient for your business.

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