A worker handles paper disposal at a Deptford shred event in 2021. This year’s shredding reached maximum capacity earlier than expected.
Deptford’s shred event on April 5 came to an abrupt end after the shredding truck brought in by DocuVault could no longer handle the volume of paper.
“One of the companies we usually get sold out to another, ” said Mayor Paul Medany. “We’re not blaming the company; it was a hiccup on our part. We didn’t realize what the size of the truck would be or what the size of the crowd would be. The truck was filled to capacity.”
Township shred events have residents drive through to hand over their boxes of documents to workers on site. There is a per-resident limit of five boxes.
Councilman Ken Barnshaw explained at an April 7 meeting that 500 cars showed up for the shred event two days before, when the expected number was between 250 to 300. That’s the number of people who ended up getting served.
Once the truck became too full to keep running, workers on the scene had to begin turning people away so residents already there could actually see their documents shredded.
“We apologize for having to turn people away,” Medany said. “People really look forward to this, as they save their paper for months in preparation for this. We want to make sure that it is done 100% correctly.”
To compensate those turned away, the township plans to host another shredding in the coming weeks; an exact date has yet to be determined and will depend on what works best for the shred company, according to Township Manager Thomas Newman Jr.
Along with an additional shredding scheduled for fall, the total number of township shred events is three for the year.
“We have to do better,” said Medany, “and we will.”
