Can You Prove It?

We’ve collected your confidential waste, either shredded it on site at your place of work or taken it to our depots for off-site shredding. But do you know what happens next?

Although not mandatory, a formal document that signifies everything supplied to us has been destroyed, or a ‘Certificate of Destruction’, may be issued to your business. This document is most commonly seen and produced by the DVLA when a car has been scrapped, but it’s a good idea to request one when any waste material is collected from your business and destroyed.
This certificate can be either provided as a printed document or emailed to you as a PDF. It provides your business with a full audit trail and physical evidence that all materials supplied to be shredded have indeed been shredded. As with other important papers, the document must be filed safely should it need to be referred back to in the future.

The document details the following important details:

• Date of issue and collection
• Address of the premises collected from
• The Waste Transfer Note number (left at the time of an off-site collection)
• Description of the waste collected
• Authorised signature on behalf of the company
• A paragraph on the relevant standards

The certificate is usually issued 48 hours after the materials have been destroyed.
Although usually issued to larger firms, it’s good practice to ask for a Certificate of Destruction for your business, irrespective of size. It gives you total peace of mind that you are compliant with all relevant data protection laws and ICO guidelines.

If your current shredding services provider is not issuing you with a Certificate of Destruction, then why not contact us to see how we can help fulfil your shredding requirements to the highest of standards.

Discover more about our range of flexible secure shredding services here.