Paper shredding protects identity and recycles materials

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WSLS teamed up with Kodiak Shredding to provide the community with free shredding services to help individuals and businesses fight the growing threat of identity theft. WSLS Reporter Rachel Lucas got an inside look at the process of securely shredding documents at Kodiak Shredding. 

LYNCHBURG (WSLS 10) - Shredding documents that contain sensitive, personal information is one way everyone can fight the growing problem of identity theft.

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But what happens to that paper after a service like Kodiak Shredding shreds that paper?

After WSLS 10 teamed up with Kodiak Shredding to help fight the growing issue of identity theft with Shred-A-Thon events during the month of November, we wanted to get an inside look at the process of shredding documents.

Friday, we took an inside look at the facility. Nearly 90 percent of the paper they shred is done at Kodiak Shredding. The remaining 10 percent is done at the businesses that contract with Kodiak.

No matter the size or the texture of the documents, the paper can be shredded down to as thin as almost dust. It's a process that's actually pretty interesting, and one that isn't taken lightly.

Because of the sensitive information printed on some of the documents they deal with, Vice President Toni Henry says they can't take any chances.

"We ensure that none of your materials won't be picked up and read," Henry said.

They have top privacy certification and promise documents will be fully destroyed.

"They'll be nothing left to it," Henry said.

She's not kidding. Nothing survives their giant shredder. Three hundred pounds of paper are lifted up by the operator at one time, once they're dumped in, they're gone forever.

After running through the blades, the paper is processed through an elaborate system of machinery, where it's heated and crunched together.

"It goes to make big huge bales that we are going to ship out to these plants, paper mills. and those bales can weigh anywhere from 12 hundred to 15 hundred pounds," Henry said.

After all of the paper is shredded and bailed, all 30,000 pounds of it are loaded onto trucks and shipped out each week to paper processing plants, where they'll turn the bales in to reusable items like tissues and toilet paper -- and even gift wrap. Any personal information on those documents will be gone forever. And the process is eco-friendly.

WSLS 10 will host two more shred-a-thon's during November. The next one will be on Nov. 17 at Woods Service Center on Washington Avenue in Vinton, from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

There's no limit to the amount of paper you can bring to have shredded.

So far, there have been two shred-a-thons, and more than 30,000 pounds of paper shredded. Typically, this is a service that companies and individuals would pay to use. Kodiak is offering these services free to the public during the WSLS 10 Shred-A-Thons.