At this emotional time of clearing a loved one’s home, there are many things to think about. But have you thought about shredding and destroying old paperwork, photos, old university papers, and medical documents? These documents are sensitive, and even though your loved one is no longer with us, their old paperwork is still important. It needs to be treated sensitively and disposed of correctly.
How Can Paper Shredding Companies Help?
Paper shredding companies offer a fast and secure way to have a deceased person’s personal paperwork destroyed and recycled correctly. Most shredding companies provide various service options so you can find one that suits your exact situation. The following options are generally available:
• Paper shredding bags
• Easy-to-fill wheelie bins
• Shred boxes or cardboard boxes
• Tote boxes
• Your own bags/boxes, which can be collected directly by the paper shredders.
How Do These Services Work?
• Paper Shredding Bags: The traditional paper shredding bag is generally 30” x 20” in size and can hold around 18kg of unshredded paperwork. A paper shredding bag can cost between £5 to £8 per bag, depending on how many you need collected and your location.
• 240L Easy-to-Fill Wheelie Bin: These bins are the same size as a standard household wheelie bin. They are incredibly easy to fill—you simply lift the lid and drop the unshredded paperwork inside. The cost of a 240L wheelie bin can range from £40 to £80, depending on the company, volume, and your location.
• Shred Boxes: While some companies use standard archive boxes, we prefer a medium removal box. They are much stronger and quicker to assemble. Shred boxes are excellent for moving large volumes of paperwork, and they are particularly convenient for homes or offices because they stack neatly in a corner.
Do I Need to Shred Domestic Paperwork?
No, destroying personal paperwork is not a legal requirement (unlike business or commercial paperwork). However, it comes down to whether you value keeping your loved one’s personal information private. While it is an extra expense that we all try to avoid, outsourcing this task is often much easier than trying to load heavy boxes of paperwork into your car to take to the local council tip.
What Happens to the Paperwork?
All the paperwork we collect goes to a large industrial shredder. We deliver the documents to the facility and tip the entire week’s collection into the machine. Once the machine shreds the paper into small, confetti-like pieces, it is baled into 500kg bundles and sent off to be manufactured into tissue paper. Your old paperwork is 100% recycled.
As a company that also handles house clearances, we understand the immense amount of work involved in clearing a home. If we can take the burden of handling and destroying this confidential paper off your hands, we are glad to help.