Don’t Let Recycling at the Office Put You at Risk

In this day and age, we all understand the importance of recycling.  With growing threats like climate change, deforestation, and waning biodiversity threatening the future of our planet, we all have to do our part to live a less disposable lifestyle and counteract the damage being done daily.

As a responsible South Dakota business owner, you naturally want to promote mindful behaviors like recycling, but in order to protect your company and your customers, you need to consider not only what you recycle, but how you go about it.  When employees throw paper in an open recycle bin or the trash, you increase risks for data theft in a couple of ways.

Why is secure recycling so important and what can you do to reduce risk factors for data breach and identity theft?  Here are a few things you should know.

The Problem with Open Recycle Bins

You want to make recycling an easy option for employees, and this generally starts with placing recycle bins on every floor, at least, for easy access.  If you have open bins, though, anyone can access the documents that go into them, and this could mean employees gaining access to sensitive data that they shouldn’t be allowed to see, use, or smuggle out of the office.

Even worse, sensitive documents that go into recycle bins could end up on the curb or at recycling facilities that aren’t secure, where they could be stolen and used for the purposes of data breach and/or identity theft.  This is all bad news for your company.

Locking recycle bins are the obvious solution.  These bins have slots large enough to insert papers, but small enough that no one could stick a hand in to retrieve documents.  When you partner with the right ITAD service provider, you’ll get secure pickup of not only hard copies, but hard drives and other devices, which could be shredded on-site as you watch, or removed to a secure facility for shredding.

Create Supportive Policies

Even at home, you probably have a system for trash or recycling that includes a bin for junk paper, as well as a stack of documents containing sensitive information that you want to shred before you recycle it.  You can do no less in the professional environment.

It’s not enough to have secure recycling bins – you also need policies in place to ensure that employees know what to do with documents.  Unfortunately, policies that treat documents differently based on their contents can be confusing, leading to errors.

Your best bet is to simply enact a shred-all policy so employees know that all documents, no matter how trifling or sensitive in nature, go into the secure shredding bin instead of the trash.  A clean desk policy will help to eliminate the threat of internal theft, as well.

Partner with a Reputable Provider

When it comes to reducing recycling risks, you’ll enjoy the greatest security and peace of mind by working with a certified ITAD service provider that meets and exceeds standards for compliance with both environmental and privacy laws.

If you’re looking for a better way to recycle, contact the qualified professionals at SEAM today at 605-274-7326 (SEAM) or online to request a quote or schedule a service.