Ocean County Offers Document Shredding Program

TOMS RIVER, NJ — If you have paperwork that's accumulated around the house or old bills you no longer need but are afraid to throw out for fear of identity theft, Ocean County is offering a document shredding program to answer those needs.

The county's Residential Document Shredding program offers 22 dates where residents can bring documents to be disposed of safely and securely, Freeholder Gerry P. Little said.

“This program provides a great service to our residents by shredding personal documents and information that otherwise may wind up in regular trash,” Little said. “With identity theft on the rise, this offers security to our residents and also keeps all of this paper out of the Ocean County Landfill. It’s a win, win.”

In 2016, a total of 102 tons, or 204,000 pounds, of documents were collected and shredded during 18 collection dates (the county added four more dates for 2017). The amount collected is up 16,000 pounds.

Residents are not required to register for this free program and can bring six boxes or bags each day. The program is for all paper documents and paper forms. Paperclips and staples do not have to be removed. The work is being performed by Autoshred of Toms River.

Little noted the shredding unit features an automatic feeding and dumping system, eliminating the need for human contact with a resident’s documents. Each shredding date will run its scheduled time or until the truck is full. The truck's capacity is 8,000 pounds.

For residents who shred documents at home, Ocean County offers drop-off boxes at both county recycling centers for shredded office papers. Shredded paper should not be mixed with recyclables picked up curbside because it cannot be effectively sorted by the county’s recycling equipment, he said.

"I encourage our residents to recycle it separately which allows us to produce a viable, marketable commodity,” Little said.

The drop-off boxes are at Building 68 at the Ocean County Northern Recycling Center, 601 New Hampshire Ave., Lakewood, and Building 105 at the Ocean County Southern Recycling Center, 379 Haywood Road, Stafford Township.

Here are the dates, times and locations for the Residential Document Shredding Program:

• April 8, Berkeley Township Recycling Center, 630 Pinewald Keswick Road, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• April 22, Plumsted Township, 121 New Egypt Allentown Road, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• April 29, South Toms River Rec Center Parking Lot, 1 Drake Lane, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• May 3, Little Egg Harbor Township Community Center, 319 West Calabreeze Way, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• May 13, Point Pleasant Recycling Center, Arthur Avenue, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• May 20, Seaside Park Public Works Garage, 1201 Barnegat Ave., 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• June 3, Lakehurst Public Works Garage, 800 Myrtle St., 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• June 10, Stafford Township, Southern Recycling Center, 379 Haywood Road, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• June 17, Brick Township Public Works Yard, 836 Ridge Road, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• June 24, Barnegat Township Municipal Complex, 900 West Bay Ave., 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• July 14, Lakewood Township Public Works Yard, 1 America Ave., 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• July 22, Ocean Gate Municipal Building Parking Lot, 801 Ocean Gate Ave., 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• July 29, Ocean Township Municipal Complex, 50 Railroad Ave., 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Aug. 12, Lacey Township Recycling Center, 820 Municipal Lane, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Aug. 19, Jackson Township Rear Municipal Building Lot, 95 West Veterans Highway, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Aug. 25, Toms River, Riverwood Park, 250 Riverwood Drive, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Sept. 16, Long Beach Township Recycling Center, 7910 Long Beach Boulevard, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• Sept. 23, Island Heights Public Works Garage, Lake Avenue and Laurel Avenue, 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• Sept. 30, Point Pleasant Beach Public Works Yard, 301 Cooks Road, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Oct. 14, Manchester Township Public Works Yard, 1360 Route 70, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Oct. 21, Eaglewood Township Municipal Complex, 146 Division Street, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Oct. 28, Beachwood Municipal Complex, 1600 Pinewald Road, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

For more information call the Ocean County Department of Solid Waste Management at 732-506-5047.

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