Joplin Recycling Center sets Document Shred Event for April 6

Many people may have personal papers that are no longer needed and are cluttering their houses, but fear of identity theft prevents some people from trashing or recycling these sensitive documents. To help with this issue, the Joplin Recycling Center is hosting a Paper Shredding Event is set for Saturday, April 6. It will be held from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Center located at 1310 West A Street. Drivers must enter the Center from the west on A Street.

During this unique opportunity, large amounts of paper can be shredded quickly at no cost to area residents.  The document shredding company, Big Bear Shredding, will have their mobile shred truck at the Center.  This event is free and open to all residents with a limit of 12 standard-sized file boxes per car. Please ensure that papers do not have any binders, binder file clips, or CD’s that are sometimes part of large folders or packets. Non-paper materials, such as cardboard, packing paper and brown paper sacks will not be accepted.

Identity theft resulting from items stolen from the trash or curbside recycling bins is the easiest type of crime to prevent.  By completely shredding documents, receipts, address labels, or pieces of paper with identifying information like account numbers, you can stop identity theft.  But simply ripping an item a few times by hand is not sufficient!   Identity thieves will spend hours putting ripped documents back together like a jigsaw puzzle. If residents fear they have been a victim of identity theft, they should contact their local law enforcement agency. Types of items identity thieves seek include:

Expired credit and debit cards

Credit and debit card receipts

Unused credit card checks

Credit card statements

Canceled checks

Investment account statements

Pension account statements

Paycheck stubs

Wage and earnings statements

Phone and utility bills

Retail invoices and statements

Tax returns and statements

Medical bills

Insurance claim information

Checking and savings account statements

Pre-approved credit card offers and applications

Insurance policy information

Expired identification documents (driver’s licenses and passports)

If unable to attend this event, the Joplin Recycling Center has a paper document destruction service on site throughout the year. The Center utilizes three locked 96-gallon containers that are switched out with empty containers on a weekly basis by CRC Shredding.  The process is self-serve—patrons can drop approximately 200 pages at a time through the restricted opening on the container.  This service is at no cost to patrons. All paper is shredded, mixed with other non-sensitive shredded paper, pulped, and then used in the manufacture of products such as egg cartons.

The Center is open Tuesday and Thursday from Noon to 6 p.m. and Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, contact Joplin Recycling Coordinator at 417-624-0820, extension 1501.