Sorting, Shredding and Recycling Office Paper
Although the amount of paperwork we deal with on a day-to-day basis is slowly reducing, it is still a big part of almost every office. Many offices are beginning to switch to more hi-tech ways of managing paperwork and are storing and sharing electronic copies of some of their documents, but in some cases, using paper is simply unavoidable… at least for now.
Security, data protection and environmental issues have dominated the headlines in recent months and it’s important that every office does its bit to dispose of sensitive information properly and contribute to a sustainable future.
Global Office Supplies are here to help. Take a look at our tips for reducing office paper wastage and how to sort and dispose of paperwork in your office below.
Recycle Your Office Paper!
An estimated five-million tonnes of paper either ends up in landfill or is incinerated every year, despite the fact that it is one of the easiest materials to recycle. By making every effort to recycle unwanted paper, you can reduce your carbon footprint and help your company to reach its sustainability targets.
Start by investing in a few boxes or bins that you can use to separate different types of paper. Have one box for coloured paper, one for white paper and another for newspapers and glossy magazines.
The chances are your current waste disposal service also offers a recycling service, so speak to them to arrange collection.
What if it’s Confidential?
Confidentiality is extremely important for offices. If financial, personal data or private company information gets into the wrong hands, you could get into a lot of hot water. Therefore, any sensitive documents that you have must be destroyed before your recycling leaves the premises.
It’s critical that confidential paperwork is dealt with correctly. Put a system in place for your recycling. Store your paperwork to be destroyed in a separate box and make it a daily or weekly task to deal with it. Make sure you communicate regularly with your team and stress the importance of confidentiality.
Security roller stamps
For smaller jobs, or when only part of a document needs to be destroyed, such as a name or address, a security roller stamp can help you cover sensitive information with a block of black ink.
Shredding
Using a shredder can help destroy these documents so they can be safely sent out with your recycling. Documents can be shredded quickly and effectively and save you a lot of time.
Mobile shredding
For larger quantities of shredding, or if you have limited resources, you may want to consider using a mobile shredding service such as the one Global Office Supplies offers.
We supply secure receptacles for your unwanted paper documents. When they are full, we will shred your documents on-site in one of our mobile shredding trucks, collect them in our low emissions vehicles and take them directly to one of our secure shredding facilities, before sending your destroyed documents for recycling.
Each step of the process has a robust audit trail, giving you peace of mind that you are disposing of sensitive data in a legal, responsible and environmentally conscious manner.
Reducing Paper Usage
As well as disposing of and recycling your unwanted paper, reducing your paper usage can also help you do your bit to protect the environment – it can save you money too.
- Only print when absolutely necessary.
- When you can’t avoid printing, print on both sides of the paper.
- Use a smaller font to fit more on one sheet.
- Reuse waste or scrap paper for notes.
Sometimes using paper is unavoidable, but doing what you can to save paper and recycling properly can help you to reduce your carbon footprint and save money.
Global Office Supplies specialise in cutting down costs on the products your office consumes on a daily basis. As well as this, we offer excellent recycling services to help companies lead the way towards their green energy targets and help turn their office into an eco-friendly working environment.
In most cases, we can deliver all of your office supplies, including paper, the very same day.