Ask A Meck County Expert 

Mecklenburg County Solid Waste experts receive hundreds of residential waste disposal and recycling questions weekly. To educate and empower Natural Awakenings readers, their experts provide updates and answer some of the most frequently asked questions in a bi-monthly column. 

Secure Paper Shred Season

Everyone has paper documents that are sensitive.  Social security numbers, accounting information, aged tax filings and other sensitive data should not make it into the hands of dubious people or systems. To address, Mecklenburg Solid Waste offers secure paper shred events every spring and fall for residents at no cost.

At the Compost Central location, the third Saturdays of March, April, May and June are the spring paper shredding opportunities, and the third Saturdays of September, October and November wind up the fall options. The County utilizes Sign-up-Genius so residents can schedule an appointment and the events have an even flow of customers.  Sign-up dates open at the beginning of the month the shredding event occurs. For example, the portal to schedule a time for the April session will open on April 1. 

Your papers will be shred on-site in one of several specialized shredding trucks.  Customers will load their papers into a large cart which will be fed directly into one of the county trucks.  Please ensure that metal binder clips are removed, and batteries are never included. We had an unfortunate fire last year when a customer dumped batteries into the shredder unit.  Also, these events are for residents only, not businesses.

To get more information about secure paper shred events, please visit WipeOutWaste.MeckNC.gov/events.

If you have program questions about recycling, waste diversion or anything else related to waste, please visit WipeOutWaste.com. To submit a waste disposal and recycling question, email [email protected]. Jeff Smithberger, Director of Solid Waste, answers the top seven residential recycling questions at https://tinyurl.com/MeckRecyleRightFAQs.

Mecklenburg Solid Waste - 2145 Suttle Ave, Charlotte, NC

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