The Internet is very quickly swallowing just about every portion of business. Things that used to be done face to face are now done over email or through some kind of video messaging system. You used to have to fly to different places around the world to meet with employees and clients; now you can video message with them instantly. Alternately, you can email them directly and get a reply in real time. The Internet is eating up just about every part of business; however, there are still times where you deal with paper documents. A paper document is more difficult to alter than a digital document. That’s why you might have your employees sign their contracts or invoice your clients in physical form. There are many different reasons you’ll end up with paper documents. In the 21st century, having a paper document can be somewhat troubling. How do you get rid of it? What do you do with it to ensure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands? How many trees had to die for this document?
Recycle Your Documents
Fortunately, the answer to all of those questions is the same; you need a company like TDS Safeguard. You need to get rid of the documents in a way that will ensure they do not fall into the wrong hands. You also need to get rid of them in a way that ensures they are recycled. When you are getting rid of documents, you need to shred them; however, you need to shred them in two directions. A standard domestic shredder typically shreds in one direction; it cuts the paper into thin strips. You need a cross-cutter. A cross-cutting paper shredder also cuts it horizontally. That makes tiny little cubes that are nearly impossible for criminals to piece back together to steal your data. A professional document destruction company will have the very best shredders possible.
That settles how to get rid of the documents; however, that doesn’t address the number of trees sacrificed to make paper documents every day. To mitigate that damage, the documents need to then be recycled. Recycled paper is sent to a facility where it is pulped, cleaned, and reconstituted.
Pulped, Cleaned, and Reconstituted
Paper is made up of a thousands of wood fibres. To recycle the paper, it will need to be pulped first. Pulping paper can be done in two different ways: chemically or mechanically. Mechanically pulping paper means to separate it with the use of machines; the machines will break it down into its constituent fibres. Those fibres will then be cleaned and turned into new sheets of paper. Mechanically-pulped paper uses a lot of energy and produces fairly weak paper. To get the longer fibres that make stronger paper, recycling companies will chemically pulp the paper. Chemically-pulped paper is injected with chemicals that break down the adhesives holding the fibres together while keeping the fibres intact. They can then be cleaned and glued back together to make new sheets of paper.
