Tag: recycling

One Person’s Trash Really is Another’s Treasure

June 15, 2020 at 9:02 pm by Flora Knolton

It is typical for companies to focus more on the security of their digital network than on physical protection of documents and data. Physical security tends to fall by the wayside even though it’s fairly easy for criminals to go dumpster diving. If the organization doesn’t end up losing all important assets in a breach, it’s common it could still suffer from irreversible brand damage. In 2007, Radio Shack dumped more than 20 boxes containing personally identifiable information (PII) for thousands of customers. A man found rummaging through the dumpster found the boxes and reported it. Shortly following, the State of Texas filed a civil lawsuit against Radio Shack for exposing its customers to identity theft. The state’s lawsuit claims the company “failed to safeguard the information by shredding, erasing, or other means, to make it unreadable or undecipherable before disposing of its business records.”  Cases like this are common, and identity theft has become a major problem worldwide.

The Recycling Myth

Many believe that recycling is a very different process from trash processing and somewhat safer in terms of data security. This understanding is far from the truth. People mostly understand that trash ends up in landfills where anyone could find sensitive material. At the same time, many people often think that recycling is safer for confidential documents since they will be destroyed and repurposed instead of being shipped to a landfill. In actuality, recycling is not transported securely. In fact, recycling trucks look like every other garbage truck, where documents and other personally identifiable information (PII) will be blowing around in the truck before being dropped off at the recycling facility. On average, recyclables sit on sorting floors from anywhere from 2-4 weeks before being destroyed. The remnants don’t sort themselves either; dozens of employees’ sort what the machines cannot and will have access to documents before they are destroyed. As opposed to destroying the documents yourself, there is absolutely no way of proving sensitive information has been destroyed when you send it to the recycler.

Protect the Customers and Employees, Protect the Business

Consumer privacy legislation has been increasing around the United States within the last few years. Recent laws such as the NY SHIELD Act and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) are giving consumers more rights relating to their access and deletion of sharing personal information that is collected by businesses. These laws give consumers a large amount of freedom over their personal information, which could open up a host of severe penalties and lawsuits for companies that fail to comply with these regulations. This trend is also being seen in other nations such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and India’s Personal Protection Bill, and it is expected to continue on this uptick everywhere in the near future. Knowing this, there is a heavier weight on organizations to protect customers’ personal and secure information or the company will be at risk for mishandling said information and could be subject to harsh monetary penalties. Employees have the same legal right to privacy as customers and expect their employer to keep their information secure as well. At the end of the day, the stakeholders will pull the most weight, and it’s important to treat their information the same as how you’d want your own sensitive information dealt with/disposed of.

Secure Your Disposal of Records

Businesses have a choice when it comes to how they want to dispose of their paper records, usually weighing the convenience, cost, and legal risks involved with complying to their industries’ standards or regulations. In U.S. government law, secure disposal is required when a record contains classified, controlled unclassified (CUI), or personally identifiable information (PII) such as address, phone number, names, emails, social security numbers, and more that can be used to identify an individual.  It’s easy to consider the cost when opting for a third-party shredding company, but can you really be certain that all the documents are being shredded? It’s impossible to tell.  Despite widespread adoption of electronic health record systems, most hospitals still use both paper and electronic documents for patient care. Healthcare cyberattacks overall are on the rise, with nearly 32 million patient records breached in 2019.  It’s crucial to find a balance between digital security and physical destruction in the workplace. Increasing communication between colleagues so they are informed of appropriate processes can help mitigate potential breaches in regard to disposing of information no longer retained by the institution.

No matter what the industry, at SEM we have many high-quality NSA Listed/CUI and unclassified paper shredders to meet any regulation. For those looking for an eco-friendly device that’s also listed on the NSA EPL for Paper Shredders, we recommend the Model 1201CC High Security Shredder. It was tested oil-free by the NSA for classified document destruction due to its specially designed cutting head that is also fully replaceable, lowering total cost of ownership. Destroying physical data in-house  may seem like a costly purchase in the short term but could send up saving a company exponentially in the long run by preventing breach. With regular maintenance, a quality shredder such as the 1201CC can last a lifetime. We’re happy to help answer any questions concerning personal or regulated shredding needs.

Security and Recycling Don’t Have to be at Odds

December 21, 2019 at 3:01 pm by SEM

When people think of information destruction they typically would not associate it with being environmentally responsible. However, this is completely untrue. In today’s society there are many alternative solutions to help become more environmentally friendly.

Paper

When shredded into a cross cut or strip cut particle, paper can be put into the recycling stream and be used to make new paper. In the past, when paper was shredded into a classified particle, the only option was a landfill. This was because paper is extremely hard to handle once it is this size and it has little, if any, recyclable value.

Today we have the option of briquetting. Briquetting is a solution that compacts the confetti like paper into small cylindrical samples which is a 9:1 volume reduction. More importantly, a briquette is something that has recyclable value. These briquettes can be used by Paper Mills as filler for cardboard boxes and manila folders. Also, a study has been performed by Penn University in which they found that a briquette sample has the burn value of soft coal, with half the carbon emission.

Hard Drives

In today’s society we are storing more and more information on hard drives and other forms of media. Because of this, there has been a large demand for hard drive shredding. After being shredded, you may think that the end particle is useless and wonder what to do with it. This shredded hard drive actually has a recyclable value in the aluminum, magnets and PC board. The market for this is always fluctuating, but you will typically see an average recyclable value of $.35-$.40 per pound.

Other Forms of Media

Optical Media – These plastics can be recycled

Floppy Disc – The metal hub and plastic outer casing has recyclable value

Blackberries/PDA’s – Once the Battery is removed, the plastics can be recycled

Computers/Printers – The CPU boards and plastics can be recycled

In the world today it is very important to become environmentally friendly and implement this any way possible. One thing I recommend is when you have something that you plan to destroy, check with a local recycling company because it may actually have a recyclable value.

Need a Full System But Don’t Have The Funds? Think Modular.

December 10, 2014 at 2:31 pm by SEM

As a Security Manager responsible for major classified holdings, you will likely face budget obstacles trying to get the central destruction system you need. While valuable and essential, these systems can be costly, and it can be difficult to get all that money upfront, especially within government contracts. But at SEM there is a strategy to deal with those obstacles if funding is a long term problem.

In short, think modular! SEM Disintegrators are unique in that they are designed with upgrade possibilities in mind. You can start with the funds you have this year and buy a basic system. Then you can build on it until you have what you want in following years until you end up with a state-of-art destruction/recycling system. Here is an example of how that might work.

Let’s say you have done your research and have come to the conclusion that you need a 700-900 lb. per hour capability. You decide that the SEM Model 23/5 Disintegrator is what you need for current and future needs. Let’s also assume that your organization is under pressure to reduce solid waste and recycling your classified paper waste would help in that direction. So you request funding for a well equipped SEM Model 23/5 Green Value Kit. Your leadership looks at your request and says, “No way, we might be able to give you 25% of that funding this year.” My advice is to take the money.

Pick out a site that has enough room for the Green Value Kit. SEM can provide layout drawings to assist you with this. This system includes the disintegrator, waste fan system, conveyor feed system, sound enclosure, and the Briquettor that compresses finely shredded classified waste into a form that can be easily recycled. Then proceed to buy the standalone Model 23/5 with just a dual bag waste collection system. Now you have a solid foundation.

The Basic SEM Model 23/5 would include these two major components: Model 23/5 Disintegrator and the Model F-112 Fan Waste System.

sem-model-23

Let’s suppose that in the following year you run into funding issues again, but you still only get “some” money. This time you decide you want to upgrade the safety and operational features. So you put together a request to purchase a sound enclosure and conveyor feeding system.

In year three the funding is not much better, so you use your limited money for the upgraded fan system you will need once you have Briquettor. This could include a fan cyclone, rotary air lock, duct work, and all of the associated controls. With this system, you could still be collecting waste in bags. Or you could switch to some other type of container since you now have an air lock. At this point, all you need to finish your Green System is a briquettor.

briquettor-retrofit-pack

It is now year four and sequestration is history. Now you can request the final part of your Green System. Have you spoken with the Environmental Department in your organization? When they find out you are trying to acquire a system that might add a 100,000 lb. of paper to the recycling program, they might help with the funding. Since you have planned this from the beginning, you have made this very easy. Space and electrical requirements are not a problem. You covered those in year one. Your last fan system upgrade is now in place. All that needs to be done now is purchase the briquettor, move it into place, and make the connections. Because of your planning and patience over four budget cycles, you now have a state-of-the-art Green System that your organization can count on for the next couple decades. That’s how the idea works.

Here is an example Green Value Kit. Note the briquette collection bins in the foreground. You can also see a full green centralized destruction system in this video here.

Here is one last thought. This strategy will work with numerous SEM disintegrator models and features. Your SEM Regional Manager has on average fifteen years of experience helping your community with classified destruction needs. Most are on the road two weeks per month visiting unique facilities all over the world. Once you have an idea where want to go with your destruction needs, our folks can visit your site and put together a technical road map to get you there. That road map will include strategy on how to get your project through the procurement process. I hope you won’t hesitate to call if we can help.

For more information about disintegrators , briquettors or other information security products, visit us at www.semshred.com or call us at 800-225-9295.