With the flip of a switch, Scott Linzy tilted a bushel of white paper files into the steel jaws inside his mobile shredding truck.

Instantly, the pile of paper was reduced to a mound of confetti-like fluff. A security camera on the side of the Absolute Secured Shredding Inc.’s truck recorded the quick-moving process.

Checking his clipboard, Linzy said the parking lot stop — outside a Rancho Cordova, Calif., medical records company last month — is the first of 20 to 30 on his daily route.

“Most take only five to 10 minutes,’’ said Linzy, president of the family-owned, Fair Oaks, Calif.-based business.

In an era of heightened concerns about identity theft and government mandates on confidentiality, the business of mobile document disposal — shredders on wheels, if you will — is thriving.

Many companies are privately held and don’t disclose revenue. But the National Association of Information Destruction Inc., a trade group for the industry, says its membership has soared in the last five years, from 150 to more than 1,000 today.

Much of that growth has been fueled by fears of identity theft, which hit 8.4 million adult Americans in 2007, costing an average of $5,720 per victim, according to a recent Javelin Strategy & Research study.

“(Shredding) is one of the top five things people can do to protect themselves from the known avenues of ID theft,’’ said Joanne McNabb, chief of the California Office of Privacy Protection.

Whether it’s medical record files or long-ago tax returns, people are clamoring for a place to safely unload their personal and business-related financial documents.

The demand for secure shredding — both at home and at work — is what’s driving the growth of document-destruction companies, from mom-and-pop businesses like Linzy’s Absolute Secured to worldwide firms like Canada-based Shred-It.

In California, businesses are required to destroy or render “unreadable’’ and “undecipherable’’ any documents containing personal information, whether it’s a driver’s license or credit card number. About 15 other states have similar laws. Federal law also requires businesses to safeguard consumers’ personal information, prompting some states to crack down on companies that don’t carefully discard their customers’ information.

Commercial shredding comes in several forms — from so-called pierce-and-tear, a type of cross-cut that rips paper into pieces smaller than your thumb, to grinders that reduce it to almost a powder.

Rates vary. Some companies charge by the box, say $70 for up to three 14-inch by 16-inch file boxes. Some charge by time, say an 18-minute stop to do eight or 10 boxes, for $75.

There also are off-site companies like Pacific Storage Co., which shreds large-volume loads from clients like hospitals or banks at its plant where the process is recorded on camera.

Compared with do-it-yourself shredding at home or the office, mobile companies maintain it’s far cheaper, faster — and more secure — to use a one-stop shredding service. A typical job of 250 pounds of paper — about the size of a 95-gallon garbage container — takes just a few minutes to chew up and spit out into a securely locked shredding truck.

“To do the same job with an employee sitting in front of a shredder, it would probably take a week, burn through two or three shredders, and use up an employee’s valuable time,’’ said Doug Rosevold, owner of Viking Shred in Roseville, Calif.

The hardened steel shredding teeth used by most mobile services can rip through just about any type of office metal, including staples, paper clips and other fasteners.

Rosevold was working in the banking industry when he realized the demand for secure document destruction. Like his peers, he says security is a huge issue with clients.

That’s why the $200,000 trucks have remote cameras so customers can watch their files being shredded — live.

“There’s nothing more secure than you visually watching it being shredded,’’ he said. Unless, “it’s putting it in your fireplace and watching it burn up.’’

Shredding companies not only get paid by customers, but also sell their confetti-like tonnage to paper recyclers. Currently, they’re getting about $150 a ton, up from $65 a ton about five years ago.

Absolute Secured’s hydraulic-mounted shredding truck can pulverize about 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of paper an hour, generating about 50 tons a week between its two vehicles.

And though competitors are piling up, co-owner Ray Linzy isn’t concerned.

“There’s a lot of shredders,’’ he said, “but there’s still a lot of paper.’’

Source: By Claudia Buck
McClatchy Newspapers www.pantagraph.com

The European Paper Industry, through the European Recovered Paper Council (ERPC) committed to meet a voluntary recycling rate target of 66% in EU 27 plus Switzerland and Norway by 2010, which is higher than in any other region in the world. Today, the industry is pleased to see the first apparition of recycling targets in the waste directive, including the 50% by 2020 for paper along with other waste streams.

“The new text does not go as far as our own commitment but it is a very good step in the right direction. Europe will only reach its goal of becoming a recycling society if modern legislation facilitates it with well written definitions and the European Paper Industry is an example of how high levels of sustainable recycling can be achieved,” said Jori Ringman, CEPI Recycling & Product Director.

“The directive also confirms the implementation of the principle of a five-tier hierarchy (prevention, re-use, recycling, recovery and elimination), which we totally support,” he added.

CEPI champions the interests of the pulp and paper industry in Europe. It monitors, analyses and acts upon EU legislation and initiatives relevant to industry, communicating on the industry’s achievements and the benefits of its products. Through CEPI, the paper industry makes expert and constructive contributions to the official European consultation process with industry. CEPI directly represents the National Associations of the paper industry in 18 member countries across Europe.
Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI)

(Source: www.eubusiness.com )

The European Parliament has adopted binding targets for the recycling of waste that the European Union’s 27 member states will have to include in their national plans or face legal action by Brussels.

Under the rules agreed by the Strasbourg plenary on Tuesday (17 June), national governments will have to “take the necessary measures” designed to achieve a concrete set of waste management targets by 2020.

These include the re-use and recycling of 50 percent of waste materials such as paper, metal and glass from households and similar waste streams, as well as 70 percent of non-hazardous construction and demolition waste.

The European Commission praised the result of the vote.

“This legislation marks a shift in thinking about waste from an unwanted burden to a valued resource and helps to make Europe a recycling society,” said environment commissioner Stavros Dimas.

But the Greens in the EU assembly said that the deal was too weak, expressing doubts that the adopted wording would force national authorities to meet the targets and criticising the lack of binding rules for manufacturing and industrial waste, as well as for waste prevention.

“The final compromise does not have a legally binding target for waste reduction. A study on waste prevention is no alternative to stabilisation measures. The continuous growth in waste is unsustainable and without this measure it will continue to grow,” said Jill Evans, MEP from Plaid Cymru party in Wales.

But British Conservative MEP Caroline Jackson, charged with leading talks with member states on the matter, said the sheer fact that concrete targets had been accepted despite strong opposition in some capitals was a victory for MEPs.

“The Council [representing national governments] is getting increasingly difficult to negotiate with. As the recession bites, it realises that this legislation is going to cost money and it is reluctant to accept parliament’s amendments.”

For his part, commissioner Dimas was clear about the EU executive’s role in pressing for the green waste goals to be fulfilled. “If these targets are not met in 2020, the commission can take member states to court for non-compliance with the requirements of the directive,” he said.

The new rules will oblige member states to develop national waste management and prevention plans five years after entry into force of the new directive. If analysis shows that it is needed, the EU executive is also due to set waste prevention objectives for 2020 by the end of 2014.

According to Brussels estimates, Europe generates around 1.8 billion tonnes of waste, meaning an average of 3.5 tonnes per person, mainly from households, commercial enterprises such as shops or restaurants, industry, agriculture and construction and demolition projects.

(Source: www.businessweek.com;  Lucia Kubosova   euobserver.com)

Started by Mike West, managing partner of NorthShore Capital Advisors, and Mike Boehringer, formerly of EZshred and Shredding Solutions in Ohio, 3GS LLC aims to grow through the acquisition of small shredder firms to create the largest independent document destruction company in the U.S.

“We are essentially entrepreneurs helping other entrepreneurs to exit their business,” said Boehringer, CEO of 3GS, who will oversee the strategic acquisitions and integration of companies. “We standardize the operations and upgrade the employee situation as it relates to benefits.”

Over the last decade, consolidation of the segment was led by three large publicly-traded companies: Cintas, Iron Mountain and Recall. As acquisitions from these companies have slowed, Boehringer said that provided an opportunity for 3GS to step in.

“We’re pretty excited about it. It’s a great niche market growing about 15 to 20 percent a year,” said George Hashbarger, chief investment officer of NorthShore and chief financial officer of 3GS. “We’ve been thinking about this for some time but the stars weren’t quite aligned.”

Funded by individual investors, 3GS aims to acquire more than 30 companies, many of which will be given an equity stake in the business. It made its first acquisition on April 22 in Mobile, Ala., with a company called Safeshred. 3GS currently has prospects in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Thanks to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and stories of identity theft, the document destruction industry has seen steadfast growth.

“There’s definitely a market appetite for shredding. It’s like an insurance policy. No one wants to pay someone to shred documents but it’s a necessary evil of cost,” said Boehringer, who joined the family business of selling office supplies in 1992 and eventually steered it into paper shredding.

The business, Shredding Solutions, grew steadily and with the help of NorthShore Capital, a West Knoxville business advisory firm, Boehringer sold the company to Iron Mountain in 2002.

“After I sold my business, I told Mike we should go out and consolidate some shredding companies,” Boehringer said. “I felt based on his buying and selling expertise and my operations experience, we would have a great team. He kept saying the timing wasn’t right. This spring, he called and said it’s time.”

West said now is the time for a second wave of consolidation given the “bullish environment.”

“Our years of experience tell us that the timing is right given the number of companies in the document shredding market,” West said in a statement. “This offered a unique opportunity to bring together outstanding industry talent to aid this business venture.”

Business writer Carly Harrington may be reached at 865-342-6317.

Source: knoxnews.com/news/2008/jun/25/shredding-ahead/

So the fleet of paper shredding trucks can now reach further to meet your paper recycling and shredding requirements in Melbourne in Deer Park, Keilor, Keilor Park, St Albans, Sunshine, Taylors Lakes, Altona, Brooklyn, Laverton, Newport, Spotswood, Williamstown, Williamstown North, Braybrook, Footscray, Maidstone, Maribyrnong, Yarraville, Currum Downs, Frankston, Langwarrin, Hoppers Crossing, Laverton North, Werribee.