Getting rid of documents

fancythat

Am I the only poster who wouldnt trust a confidential waste company?

Haha. Well said. I would never trust them either .

SPAMMERS AT IT, AGAIN!

I’ve finally agreed to most things like bank/insurance/utilities etc being saved online. I much prefer paper but can see the benefits of paper
I shred docs that could give details I don’t want out there

Household incinerator

I recently went through decades of my Father’s hoarded correspondence.

I tore off only the identifying information, usually found at the top of the front page of statements, letters and so on, then put those parts through the shredder and put the rest of the pages in a paper bank at his local recycling centre.

The remaining information means nothing if it can’t identify the person to whom the correspondence is addressed, so there was much less to shred and it was quite manageable.

I left older documentation untouched and gradually placed it in my own paper recycling bin over a few weeks.

We went to the confidential waste company on Friday, a huge sack was £7 to be destroyed.

It’s worth every penny.

If you can’t burn the papers, like me, soak the sheets in a bath of water for a few hours and then mash into small shapes.

SuperTinny

There really is no need to be suspicious about confidential waste disposal companies.

They abide by industry standards. They do what they say on the tin.

Who trusts humanity? Strangers.

Ironically, there is a thread just now of people despairing about the world.

Am I the only poster who just tears them up and chucks them in the paper bin
I would trust confidential paid workers about as much as I trust the bin men but bin men are a lot cheaper 🤣maybe there is an advantage to not owning too much and not using paper bills
If I was really worried I do the soak over night bit but I m not
Life’s so simple when you don’t own a lot 🤣🤣🤣

Thanks Caleo, I realise what you meant now!

C Girl, my folders with document were to be for my lawyer to see to identify me with. I was being put into my wheel chair to go from the carpark to the office when my carer placed them on the ground and forgot to pick them up. I myself should have paid more attention, but it's my habit to not micro manage helpers.

Where did they get your plastic folders Caleo?

Did they break into your home?

Two plastic folders with my birth cert, most recent bank statement, utility bill, and old drivers licence were accidentally left on the ground of a public carpark, last month. To date nobody returned them to me or to the bank. They have in effect been stolen., probably by a casual lifter. The police and others advised me the person who took the documents can do nothing with them.

I console myself that most people are not criminals but simply lazy and /or ignorant.

oodles
The bags offered to my mother-in-law by the local company are sealable.

How do you know you were behing a lorry with confidential paperwork?

Are really old bank statements so confidentia?

I obviously do not put anything containing current bank or savings information in the bin unshredded, but once statements are 2 or 3 years old, they are in the past and say very little about your current life. Put handfuls of paper, not tied up in paper recycling and someone is only likely to pick up one sheet of statement, so what?

I was told at the recycle centre to put any sensitive papers in the household waste which gets incinerated.

Shredded paper won't be accepted in the recycling.

I have composted some old bank statements though I haven't had paper ones for years now. I have a wood fire so can burn small amounts of paper.

I have a. Memory of driving behind a lorry that seemed to be full of sheets of paper, the cover wasn't on properly and loads of sheets of paper were blowing out
I actually have a heavy duty shredder but even with that it's a pain to do large quantities. So what I have done in the past is removed addresses and account numbers etc and made sure that they are securely destroyed and haven't worried too much about random sheets of numbers etc from 7 years ago. I've actually stuck the bits with addresses and suchlike in my incinerator. Obviously if it is confidential data that's different

Oh, and I'm also Treasurer of our local u3a with over 500 members, so all their records need destroying. And some of the stuff goes back 20 years!!!

Although I had an employer for a lot of my career I was also self-employed doing sensitive stuff, so client records, and I also did some examining work so all that is confidential too. I did find a mobile shredding company (didn't know they existed) but reckoned it would cost around £200 depending on weight, so we have ordered an incinerator "bin" for under £20.

I also tried one of those roller things with ink in them but (a) it was very time-consuming and (b) you could still make out the digits on any slightly shiny paper, so not secure.

Wish me luck with the bin - I need to work out how to light it!

fancythat

Am I the only poster who wouldnt trust a confidential waste company?

No - neither would I. There's an epidemic of fly-tipping going on right now, and the Council only has to find a scrap of a document with your address on it and you'll be the one who gets a fine not the cowboys.

An easy way is to soak batches of them overnight in a bowl of water. The next day squeeze them out, tear into bits if you want, and dispose of in household rubbish. This method is the same as one would use for papier mache.

There really is no need to be suspicious about confidential waste disposal companies.

They abide by industry standards. They do what they say on the tin.

All of the above but I like to keep a few salient documents just for social history interest. My first full time payslip (to remind myself that I'm not that badly paid now!), first mortgage document etc. The odd big purchase receipt.

My mum did this and my daughter loved looking through them with me. I hope my grandchildren will find them equally interesting. They fit easily into a box file.

Some shredded paper can be composted. (I understand that by law, printer's ink now all has to be "vegetable" based and non-toxic.) But glossy paper should not be included. Of course you can only add a limited amount to a compost bin - not sacks full!
Some animal rescue centres will also accept shredded paper as bedding for their "small" animals, e.g. Guinea pigs.

Just a reminder to those shredding paper.

Our council does not want shredded paper to go in the recycling bin, apparently it jams up the mechanics at the recycling site.

Has to go in General waste.

Not everyone realises this, they think it’s just ‘paper’.

Of course, I’m unsure if this applies all over the country.