Which Papers Should You Shred? A Sorting Rule for Every Office
Every office has one. The person standing at the recycling bin holding a sheet of paper, turning it over, wondering. And because wondering takes time and there's a meeting in four minutes, the paper goes in whichever bin is nearest. Multiply that by everyone on your floor, every day, and you can see the problem. What you need isn't a policy document nobody reads, it's a rule people can apply in three seconds.
The three-second rule
Here is a simple cautious house rule: if a stranger could learn something private or commercially sensitive from it, put it in the secure bin. This is an internal sorting rule rather than the legal definition of confidential waste. Not "is it important", not "is it confidential", both of which invite an argument. Could a stranger learn something.
It works because it catches the things people underestimate. A delivery note has a customer's name and address. A meeting agenda names your staff and your clients. A printed email footer carries direct dial numbers. None of those feel sensitive, and all of them are useful to someone building a picture.
What definitely goes in the secure bin
Material that contains personal information and would create a disclosure risk if read by someone unauthorised will normally need secure disposal. Payroll and HR paperwork of any kind, including the rota. Customer and supplier records, quotes, invoices and delivery notes. Anything financial: bank details, statements, card slips. Notes from meetings. Handwritten scraps with passwords or codes on them, which exist in every office regardless of what your IT policy says. And your own commercial material, pricing, tenders, contracts, supplier terms, which isn't personal data but is exactly what a competitor would enjoy.
What genuinely doesn't
We shred paper for a living, so take this as sincere: most of your waste paper doesn't need it. Trade magazines and catalogues. Blank forms and unused letterhead. Printed marketing that you handed out publicly anyway. Packaging and envelopes with no address label attached. Internal notices with no names on them. Putting all of that through secure destruction costs you money for no gain, and it fills the consoles so the things that matter have nowhere to go.
The one caveat: an envelope with the address window still showing your customer's details is not blank packaging. Tear the label off or bin the whole thing securely.
Making the rule stick
Two practical things do more than any amount of training. Put the secure bin closer to the printer than the recycling bin, because convenience beats intention every time. And make the default "if in doubt, shred", so nobody has to make a judgement call under time pressure. Slightly over-shredding is usually a small cost. Insecure disposal can result in a personal data breach if information is lost, disclosed or accessed without authority.
For the paper that's finished its life in the archive rather than at the printer, the question is different and it's about retention periods rather than sorting. Our guide to how long to keep business records covers that, and the ICO's audit guidance recommends secure storage before destruction, suitable destruction methods, appropriate supplier contracts and evidence such as audit checks or destruction certificates.
Get in touch
Want consoles in the right places and collections that just happen? Get in touch and we'll set it up. There's more on our confidential waste destruction page.
