Why Shred With Us?

Save Money & Time By Outsourcing Your Shredding

One of the most valuable services we provide is the chance to safely and securely dispose of paper documents for a fraction of what it would cost to perform the same operation in-house.

Let us demonstrate with a quick thought experiment.

• A typical ream of paper, weighing five pounds, contains around 500 sheets of paper. This means that one pound of paper is about 100 sheets.
• The average American office worker uses about 10,000 sheets of paper per year, which comes out to about 192 sheets of paper per week.
• Small businesses typically have 1 to 99 employees on staff. For the sake of our experiment, let’s assume that an office produces about 800 pounds (80,000 sheets) of paper per month.
• An Allegheny office shredder that retails for $4,000 can shred 342 sheets of paper per minute. Going through the office’s monthly paper output would take about 4 hours to shred.
  • Assuming an average wage of $25/hour for the employee (assuming a yearly pay of $40,000, plus $10,000 in benefits), the cost for the first year of shredding with an Allegheny shredder would be $5,200. For every year after that, it would cost $1,200, not including repairs or replacement.
• A Staples office shredder that retails for $1,200 can shred 180 sheets of paper per minute. Going through the office’s monthly paper output with this relatively cheaper machine would take about 22 hours, given that the shredder can only run for a half-hour before requiring a full hour cool-down.
  • Assuming the same average wage of $25/hour, the cost for the first year of shredding would be $7,800. For every year after, it would cost $6,600 – again, not factoring in the cost of repairs or replacement.

Bear in mind that this thought experiment did not take into account the cost of electricity, secure disposal, or lost employee time.

By comparison, professional shredding trucks (like the ones used by A-1 Shredding) are capable of shredding up to 133 pounds of paper per minute (8,000 pounds per hour).

This means that the office’s output of 80,000 sheets each month can be cross-cut, according to precise industry standards, in only six minutes.

Furthermore, A-1’s shredding trucks are insured and tracked, which means that you won’t have to pay anything extra for certified, confidential paper disposal. The paper particles will remain inside the shredding truck until they are safely and directly deposited for recycling.

 

Guaranteed Industry Compliance

Different industries have certain restrictions on the way that confidential information can be discarded. One example is the HIPAA Compliance regulations that set the standard for the disposal of medical records.

These regulations stipulate everything from the size of the shredded particles (a maximum of 0.24”x0.25”) to the manner in which they must be discarded. While it is possible to find commercial shredders capable of cross-cutting documents, it would still fall upon you, as the industry member, to make sure that the rest of the guidelines were followed appropriately.

Working with a shredding company like A-1 effectively removes the burden of all that work from your shoulders. From document collection with secured containers, cross-cut shredding, and removal and transportation of the particles to a trusted recycling partner, A-1 has already refined the process to meet all state and federal regulations for your industry.

At the end of each and every shredding appointment, you’ll receive a Certificate of Destruction, which verifies that the material was entrusted to our care and that we disposed of it safely and securely. It’s your way to legally demonstrate that you followed the regulations to the letter by entrusting your old papers and files to professional shredders.

 

Uncompromising Commitment to Customer Satisfaction

Our goal is to make your life easier – it’s as simple as that. We treat each and every piece of paper as if it contained our own personal information, and our customers aren’t just our clients; they’re members of our community.

With an average rating of 4.97 out of 5 and over one hundred customer reviews on Google, Yelp, and Facebook, you don’t have to take our word for it.

“We were so happy to find a service that would come to a residence and just take away the mess, so we didn’t have to spend hours hauling it to another company on our own.”

“All A-1 team members are always so willing to go above and beyond here, which is so nice these days.”

“Anytime I need stuff shredded between pick up dates, I’ve been allowed to walk in with what I have. I will always use A-1.”

“They were right on time & got the job done super fast. The truck driver was very polite, friendly & professional. Use these guys. They know what they’re doing & the price is right.”