The paper came to the Prince George’s Material Recycling Facility on Saturday in minivans and pickup trucks, sedans and SUVs. Some of the documents were packed carefully into boxes, others stuffed into garbage bags that bulged and threatened to break.
Tax forms mingled with credit-card applications. Ancient bank statements tangled with businesses’ client records. But, with the push of a button and the whir of blades, it all became quarter-sized, cross-cut pieces of confetti in the back of a mobile shredding truck.
“He had a major collection,” Clifton Taylor said as he watched financial records belonging to his late father disappear into the shredder. “I think he saved everything.”
The Department of Environmental Resources organized the four-hour shredding session as part of the county’s Livable Communities Initiative. Residents in 41 vehicles brought 2,442 pounds of documents to be shredded for free and recycled.
Bev Carroll, director of operations for Safeguard Shredding, said his truck can chew through 3,000 pounds an hour and store up to 9,000 pounds of paper in the back. Carroll said his clients are usually private businesses and government agencies. When his truck arrives for a community shredding session, Carroll said, it’s not uncommon for people to empty basements and attics of old records.
“I’ve shredded stuff that goes back to the ’50s,” Carroll said.
Taylor said the drive up from Fort Washington was worthwhile. He handed over 325 pounds of paperwork in trash bags and wondered aloud whether to make a second trip to get the rest. His wife, Se-Thia Taylor, nodded a vigorous “yes” in the front seat of their minivan.
“It’s been sitting in our garage,” Clifton Taylor said of the documents. He said he had a personal shredder but didn’t think it was up to such a big job.
“It’d burn up trying to do all this.”
Shred session
» Saturday was the first shredding session offered by the Prince George’s County Department of Environmental Resources as part of theLivable Communities Initiative.
» Safeguard Shredding has shredded documents for residents of Herndon and Fairfax.
