Recycling, document shredding companies enhance each other

By Jim Obert

Business Today

JACKSON -- There are two paper-related businesses in one building in north Cape Girardeau County. One business, Missouri Plastics & Recycling LLC, an ISO 9001:2000 company and EPA Waste Wise partner, recycles many grades of paper and ships it for future use as paper products. The other business, Missouri Secure Shred LLC, a National Association for Information Destruction member, shreds paper until its contents are unidentifiable, then recycles it into paper products. Each company complements the other. Tammy Baremore is chief executive officer of both businesses.

Every day Missouri Plastics and Recycling receives collected waste paper generated by post-industrial manufacturers and printers. Paper arrives in many forms -- roll-off trucks, open-top containers, collection bins and loose trailer loads. Once received it is sorted by grade. Recycled grades include pulp substitute, mixed paper, OCC (old corrugated cardboard), DLK (double-lined cuttings), ONP (old newspaper) SOW (sorted office waste) and SWL (sorted white ledger).

Customers need not worry about removing paper clips, staples, binding or plastic tabs. Baremore said she has a system for handling them.

Baremore said additional excellent paper feedstocks for recycling are magazines, computer print-outs, green bar, color paper and phone books.

"We receive and process approximately 1,500 tons a month of paper," said Baremore, adding she concentrates on Missouri businesses first to ensure state jobs and state revenues. "However, customers are located throughout the United States, all of which are productive and excellent environmental waste reduction programs.

"Southeast Missouri State University is one of many local customers in which a successful recycling program exists and continues to evolve." Baremore said students in the waste management class at Southeast have toured her plant the past several years.

"In addition, we work with many area grade schools and high schools in establishing recycling programs within the classroom," said Baremore. "We also do presentations and tours for the Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops."

Over the past seven years, Missouri Plastics & Recycling has converted millions of pounds of scrap plastics into suitable feedstock for end-use in markets such as automotive, agriculture and home-care products.

"We receive trucks all over the country for plastics," said Baremore. "We import and export plastics as well. However, again our first and foremost goal is to keep all volume domestic. We're really geared for the high-volume producers of plastic scrap, whether produced through their manufacturing process or as a result of incoming packaging materials.. We currently receive and process between 300 and 500 tons of plastic every month."

Baremore said the plastic is shredded and ground into feedstocks and converted to pellets. These feedstocks are targeted to companies such as injection molders, extruders and blow molders that produce a finished product with approved recycled content. That content can vary from as little as 5 percent to a 100 percent recycled finished item. Baremore said the intended use of the finished "wicket" will determine the allowable recycled content.

She said some of her clients want certain colors of plastic, or they want plastic that has specific properties and meet certain criteria such as density or melt flow. There are many grades of plastics, and the ability to recycle plastics versus paper can be challenging due to co-mingling of different grades

Baremore's other company, Missouri Secure Shred, is a secure document destruction business.

"Document destruction is a business that's really taken off in the past few years because of all the privacy laws," said Baremore. "Document and product destruction is a growing industry and customers often learn about the services while shopping for them.

"The records manager in any company looking for this type of service should look for destruction companies that screen employees, and have in place levels of insurance that should be required and verified."

Baremore said the particle size should be no more than what the industry dictates. If in-plant services are used, verify that access is restricted. The destruction contractor provides documentation upon receipt and a certificate of destruction once the material has been destroyed.

Baremore said all employees are screened and background checked, and the facility is constantly monitored by closed-circuit cameras. The destruction of documents is videotaped and maintained for 90 days. Also, customers can be given a copy of the video -- over the Internet if the client has the right software.

"Our priority is keeping confidential information private, and we do it in an environment-friendly and responsible way," said Baremore. "Our customers are the lifeline to our business."