Local Shred Day Brings in 10 Tons of Personal Papers

Residents from Bernards Township and surrounding Somerset Hills communities brought an estimated 10 tons of documents with personal identifying information to the third annual "Shred Day" held in the township, officials reported at Tuesday's meeting.

The county-funded service, held last Saturday at the township engineering service, was designed to destroy documents that might leave their owners vulnerable to identity theft.

The papers delivered to the professional shredding opperation were shredded on site. The paper then was compacted to be sold to recyclers, said Mayor John Malay. Another advantage of the service, he said, is, "It does not go into the landfill.

Malay, who volunteered at the event, estimated more than 300 residents brought items to be destroyed.

“We had people with one grocery bag full, we had people with entire truck loads,” he said in a news release issued earlier by the township. “You’d be amazed at the amount of paper everyone has that may well contain social security numbers, credit card numbers, bank account data or personal medical information. We turned all of that into harmless confetti.”

Committeeman John Carpenter also helped out at the entrance to the line during the Shred Day event, he said.

“We filled up two trucks with shredded, compacted paper," Carpenter said in the news release.

He reported at the night meeting that an estimated 10 tons of paper were shredded during the day.

“All of it will get baled up and sold, pulped and used in recycled paper products," Carpenter said in the press release.

The event was organized by Township Clerk Denise Szabo, working in conjunction with Somerset County.

“Hats off to Denise and her staff for a great event,” Malay said. “It’s a great service for residents and it doesn’t cost the taxpayers a dime." The costs are covered by the Somerset County Consumer Protection Group and the County Records Management Group, he said.

The Shred Day operation, started three years ago as a community service arranged by the township, is likely to become an annual event, Carpenter said. “There’s a demonstrated need for it and we love bringing county funds back into Bernards," he said in the press release.