Within business it is a regular occurrence that sensitive or confidential documents will need to be destroyed in the interest of security. Given the nature of modern society, secure document and paperwork disposal has become an important concern for personal as well as corporate security due to the now ever-present concern of identity theft. Simply throwing away bank statements or other papers detailing personal information is an ineffective way of securing yourself against potential identity theft due to the unscrupulous tenacity of thieves. A paper shredder is an assured way of securing peace of mind when disposing of papers for work or for oneself and an eminently affordable option.

Shredders are generally split into two categories: strip cut and cross cut. Although no particular type is more effective than the other, both do offer different benefits. A cross cut shredder is particularly suited to the disposal of documents which are of upmost confidentiality. This type of shredder cuts the paper into small confetti-like pieces making it near impossible for someone to re-assemble the pieces into a readable arrangement. Strip cut shredders still render documents unreadable but are less thorough than their cross cut counterparts, as such, this type of equipment is more suited to everyday shredding.

An additional factor to consider when looking at shredders is the volume of shredding you are likely to need to perform. Personal shredders range from compact low-priced units capable of effectively disposing of single sheets as and when required through to more substantial machines which can shred multiple documents at once. More robust industrial shredders are not only capable of quickly shredding 24 sheets+ at a time but many are also built to dispose of card, thin plastic and even CDs without risk of jamming or internal damage. The higher end of these more substantial shredders are capable of continuous operation over a long period of time, near silent in operation and self correcting in the event of a jam. It is by no means necessary that every office has a top of the line shredder, but for organisations that need to dispose of large volumes of paper they are time and effort saving.

Given the low price of personal shredders and the potentially vast cost of identity theft or legal action due to the failure to satisfactorily dispose of sensitive information; it makes sense that not only every office but indeed every home is in possession of a shredder capable of servicing their needs.