Shredding Overview

Shredding Reduces Your Liability Risks

Every business, regardless of size or industry, has at least one legal requirement to follow when destroying sensitive and confidential documents. Following these standards not only protects your customers and employees, but also protects your company's reputation and exposure. Pinnacle's secure shredding services will certify that your company's confidential information is destroyed in compliance with municipal, state and federal laws, thus preventing costly lawsuits and fines. Shredding also prevents PR nightmares—you don't want to be in the "dumpster spotlight"! Read more about Legal Compliance

Shredding Prevents Information from Falling into the Wrong Hands

Professional shredding prevents identity theft and information from falling into the hands of competitors. Sensitive paperwork includes: customer lists, financial records, medical records, cancelled checks, tax records, memos, new product proposals, credit card receipts, etc. While shredding all documents makes good business sense, some sensitive papers fall under stringent compliance laws and could leave you facing liability risks and fines, if not properly handled.

100% NAID Certified

Pinnacle guarantees our partners are 100% NAID Certified (National Association for Information Destruction) and adhere to the most stringent regulations concerning security, employee hiring and screening, and the operational destruction process.

Certificate of Destruction

Your customers and employees want the assurance that their personal information is protected. When you use professional shredding services, you will receive a Certificate of Destruction after every visit. The certificate provides proof that you have properly protected and destroyed sensitive documents according to local, state and federal compliance laws.

Nationwide Service

Pinnacle offers shredding services nationwide. If you have multiple locations, you won't have to deal with numerous contacts or invoices, and you'll receive the same pricing for all of your locations.

Environmentally Friendly

Most shredded paper is recycled and made into new paper products, helping to conserve our natural resources.

Here's how the process works:
	Step One: Sensitive documents are placed into the secure locked consoles.
	Step Two: Our document destruction truck arrives at your location.
	Step Three: Our security-screened professionals remove your documents from the secure, locked consoles and transport them to our on-site document destruction truck.
	Step Four: Your documents are destroyed behind a locked security screen at your location.
	Step Five: Once your documents are destroyed, you are given a Certificate of Destruction.

Shredding – Legal Compliance

Pinnacle's Partners are all NAID Certified

According to the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID), there are nearly 2,000 companies in the US who provide information destruction services. However, not every shredding service takes security as seriously as they should. NAID and NAID Members are the trusted resource for information destruction of hundreds of thousands of organizations.

The NAID Certification Program establishes standards for a secure destruction process for both mobile and plant-based operations. Standards include such areas as security, employee hiring and screening, the operational destruction process, and general liability insurance ($2,000,000 or more).

Not only is it a good idea to shred sensitive documents - for most businesses, it is the law. All of the laws below describe a business' responsibility to safeguard sensitive documents.

In-House Shredding vs. Professional Services

In-House Shredding Costs More Than You Think!

It is estimated that businesses spend $171.12 to shred 100 lbs. of paper. This cost may seem high, but when you consider it takes over 7.5 hours for employees to shred 100 lbs. (9,090 pages), based on a high-capacity shredder handling 20 pages a minute, you can see how quickly labor costs add up.

Shredding is not just the amount of time in front of the shredding machine, it also involves:

• Sorting documents
• Picking up and straightening the paper
• Cleaning up paper residue
• Disposing of the shredded paper
• Sharpening, oiling or replacing the shredding machine's blades

In addition, equipment and energy usage need to be factored when calculating the real costs of shredding in-house.

There is a Less Expensive Way to Shred Business Documents!

Professional shredding only costs approximately $30 a month to shred 100 lbs. of documents, and it offers other tangible benefits.

Benefits of Pinnacle's Professional Shredding:

• Significantly less expensive than in-house shredding
• 100% NAID Certified (National Association of Information Destruction)
• Receive a Certificate of Destruction that proves you have handled sensitive documents properly
• Reduces your liability exposure and fine risks
• Allows employees to do their jobs instead of feeding the shredder
• No need to replace broken shredders
• You won't have to buy bags and dispose of shredded paper
• Reduces security risks because your employees are more likely to place documents into a secure container, rather than leave them on desks waiting to be shredded
• Nationwide service
• We also can help you dispose of electronic waste, which must meet the same compliance laws as printed documents

Call us at 888-973-4362 to learn more about our shredding services

E-Waste

What is E-Waste?

Electronic waste (also known as e-waste or e-scrap) describes loosely discarded, surplus, obsolete, or broken electrical or electronic devices including computers, cell phones, microwaves, televisions, and basically anything with a cord. Informal processing of e-waste can cause serious health and pollution problems, and many states have passed legislation to ensure businesses are properly disposing of their e-waste.

Certified Data Destruction

Don't worry about compromising confidential information stored on your electronics - Pinnacle guarantees your data security. Pinnacle utilizes data sanitizing software that overwrites all data on the drive. We adhere to the practices described in the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Guidelines for Media Sanitation: Special Publication 800-88. Our data destruction processes are reviewed and validated by an independent party to guarantee compliance. Wiped drives are randomly checked daily in-house to guarantee no data remains.

Environmentally Sound Recycling

Pinnacle is committed to recycling used electronic equipment in a manner that complies fully with the law and protects the environment. Our partners are R2/RIOS certified and are also ISO 9001 & 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certified. Certification to these standards requires a commitment to the highest level of environmental standards.

Frequently Asked Question about Shredding

Can I witness destruction of my information?

On-site monitoring is available through cameras installed in the paper shredding and collection compartments in the trucks.

Do you offer a certificate of document destruction?

We can issue a Certificate of Destruction form when records have been destroyed. The form will include data and method of destruction, description of the disposed records, dates covered, statement that records were destroyed as part of the normal course of business, and signatures and names of individuals supervising and witnessing the destruction. We can also provide detailed monthly recycle poundage and quality reports.

How do you implement privacy and security compliance?

Our national partners are committed to HIPPA requirements and adheres to all other requirements and regulations for the destruction of confidentiality of proprietary materials.

How long must I keep documents before they can be destroyed?

The period of time that business records are stored should be determined by a retention schedule that takes into account the useful value of documents to the business and governing legal requirements. By not adhering to ongoing destruction of documents that have outlived their usefulness, businesses exhibit disposal practices that could be negatively construed in the event of litigation or audit.

How secure are your containers?

We offer and maintain a number of different options in regard to lockable security containers. Choice of bin size and type is solely at your discretion and can be altered at any time during the engagement.

Is a paper shredding schedule necessary?

By destroying records according to a set schedule, a company appropriately limits risk. Based on your company's needs, we will schedule a regular time — daily, weekly or monthly — to destroy and then recycle your sensitive material. Or, you can schedule for a one-time purge.

Since we have a paper shredder, why do we need to outsource paper shredding?

Most office-size paper shredders take time to feed and cannot accommodate sizable quantities of documents. Larger capacity document shredders involve capital investment, maintenance and service calls. Lastly, both large and compact paper shredders share the same basic problem — they will eventually break.

What do I have to do to prepare documents for destruction?

Nothing more than deposit them in the bins and consoles placed around your office. There is no need to remove paper clips, staples or any other type of binding.

What else can you destroy besides paper?

Our shredding trucks will shred just about anything. We can destroy paper clips, staples, binders, books, and small amounts of discs and CD-ROMs. When needed, we can schedule an e-waste pickup to destroy items such as hard drives, old computers, monitors, cell phones, copiers, reel tapes, cassette tapes, and large amounts of plastics, discs or CD-ROMs when needed.

What regulations do you adhere to?

All of our partners are National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) "AAA" certified providers. We adhere to all applicable laws, regulations and guidelines.

Why should my company shred documents?

You have a legal responsibility to keep sensitive customer and employee information from falling into the wrong hands. Businesses can no longer throw confidential documents away. Eliminating certain data in a timely fashion limits your liability in litigation and protects proprietary information from competitors. Our paper shredding service will securely eliminate confidential information.

With fewer than ten employees, does it make sense for us to outsource document shredding?

Absolutely. Small organizations have limited personnel resources and they may have more of a need to outsource paper shredding than larger companies. We provides convenient on-site bins and conducts paper shredding according to your schedule.

Why should I shred?

You should shred to protect your identity. Businesses are required by laws and regulations to protect the identity of any employee and customer. Not only do the laws require employers and businesses to protect and destroy private information, it is the ethical thing to do. On top of this, all shredded paper is recycled and helps the environment.

Why should my company shred documents?

To ensure the safety and security of your business. Businesses of all types are now realizing the necessity of destroying documentation and media that may contain confidential information about itself or its clientele. Without shredding, this information can be used to steal a person's identity or ruin business credibility.

Do I need to sort or remove metal fasteners?

No, our shredders are built to easily accommodate staples, binder clips, rubber bands, and other fasteners.

What happens to the materials, once shredded?

They are bailed and delivered to a paper mill for recycling.

Why use a shredding service instead of using our own shredder?

Simply put, it will save you money. It costs considerably more to shred your own documents, when you factor in the cost of the shredder(s), labor costs, office space, and disposal costs.

How do I setup a scheduled shredding plan?

Just contact us for a free consultation of your needs!