Pierce County offers free paper shredding events throughout the county. Attendees can shred up to three shopping bags of paper at each event.
Only shred portions of documents with sensitive information. For example, an entire banking statement does not need to be shredded—just the sections with account numbers. Remember that information like names, addresses, and birthdays are usually already available online and are not high priority for shredding.
Always Shred
According to the Attorney General’s Office documents containing the following information should be shredded or destroyed:
Account Numbers
Birthdates
Passwords & Pins
Signatures
Social Security Numbers
Credit Card Numbers
Can Shred
The following pieces of information can be shredded, but are not high priority (you can also black this information out with a marker):
Names
Addresses
Email Addresses
Phone Numbers
Not Accepted
The following pieces of information are not accepted for shredding:
Already Shredded Paper
Hard Plastics
X-Rays
3 Ring Binders
Garbage
Upcoming Shred Events
All shred events are from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. or until the truck is full.
Place in garbage Add to personal worm bins or backyard compost bins Do NOT place in curbside recycling (not accepted since 2019) Do NOT place in curbside yard waste Do NOT bring to shredding events Do NOT bring to mixed paper drop boxes at transfer stations
Additional Shredding Options
Businesses such as banks, credit unions, office supply stores, and mail stores often offer shredding services--check with your local branch for details.
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