Paper shredding is a common practice in every organization. Important information and confidential documents should be shredded as soon as they are no longer needed. Otherwise, they might fall into the hands of those with malicious intentions. However, a paper shredder is not the way to go about this.

Here are 4 reasons to ditch the paper shredder:

1. Unreliability

You shred confidential papers to keep important information safe and secure. However, paper shredders aren’t always reliable. This piece of equipment cannot bear the load of so many cartons of paper and might halt the process of paper shredding altogether. It might even overheat or cause paper jams. These maintenance issues can hinder shredding, which results in crumpled pieces of paper piling below the shredder instead of actually shredded paper.

If you have a paper shredder in your office, you should double-check after concluding the process. In some cases, documents do not get shredded properly and are actually quite legible when they’re thrown out.

2. Inefficiency

Paper shredders are often inefficient and time-consuming. Paper shredding is a long process that requires separating the papers by removing cardstocks, staples, paperclips, binders, sticky notes, etc. You have to separate them into smaller portions so that they can be easily shredded.

Your work is not done yet. You have to feed the papers to the shredder pile by pile, ensuring that it doesn’t get stuck while the shredding is going on. If it does, you have to restart the shredder and feed it smaller piles of paper. Not to mention, you have to clean the paper shreds as well – all of which require time and effort.

3. Security Risks

Most paper shredders produce strips as a result of paper shredding. However, this might not be enough. Strips can be reconstructed, which ultimately gives rise to the threat of information theft and other security risks.

Moreover, when you toss the shredded paper in an unprotected bin, thieves have easy access to the information, making the entire process of paper shredding a complete waste of time.

4. Costs

Paper shredders might not cost you a lot initially, but they will increase your costs in the long run. These shredders require a lot of maintenance to ensure better performance. Moreover, you might have to pay your employees to shred papers, which is an additional cost on your head.

Final Word

Carrying out the process of paper shredding with the help of a paper shredder is a bad idea. It hampers productivity, wastes time, can lead to security risks and is also a costly investment. Therefore, you should approach a professional paper shredding company to carry out this process. Let’s face it, when you are in the corporate world, every penny counts. Therefore, the wise choice is to get a professional and ditch paper shredders at your workplace.