World's Record Paper Shredding

Online, September 14, 2011 (Newswire.com) - SALT LAKE CITY - The record was broken months ago, yet now it is official: American Shredding, Inc. set a new world record while protecting consumers from identity theft.

The more than 43 tons of paper collected from Utah residents gathered at Spring Mobile Ballpark for free shredding services nearly tripled the previous record for most non-commercial paper collected within a 24-hour period, according to Guinness World Records™.

A biannual event held in May and November as a public reminder about the importance of safeguarding against identity theft, Shred Fest 2011 generated 87,360 pounds of documents for shredding. Last week Guinness officials notified event organizers of the new world record.

Partnering again with the 2News Team at KUTV2, the CBS Television affiliate covering Salt Lake City, American Shredding surpassed the previous record of 31,979 pounds set in October 2010. "We have been with KUTV2 from its very fist Shred Fest,"

American Shredding District Manager Erik Brown said. "In previous Shred Fests, we had broken the record, but we didn't do it officially. Guinness has requirements. We documented the event, and now it's official. This is a great way to keep thieves at bay and to promote awareness about protecting personal information."

http://www.americanshredding.com

Guinness rules mandate weight and scale verifications, attendance by two separate witnesses as well as local news stations, and a defined method for measuring and recording the data: "It requires very intense record-keeping," Brown adds. "We had video proof that our weights were accurate, and we had Brett Gurney, the program supervisor for the Weights & Measures division of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, come and out and certify our scale. He also wrote a statement verifying that the weights were correct."

Gurney and Bill Gephardt, the father of KUTV Consumer Reporter Matt Gephardt who organizes the twice-a-year event for the KUTV 2News Team, witnessed the thousands of people who lined up between 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. on May 2 at the Salt Lake City ballpark. As loaded American Shredding trucks were weighed, a videographer recorded the date, time and weight shown on the scale reader board.

Besides paper, people brought CDs, hard drives, cell phones, Blackberry equipment, smartphones and other media devices. The next Shred Fest 2011 event will be in November. "This was the sixth one, the biggest one that we've seen yet," KUTV 2News Team Consumer Affairs Reporter Matt Gephardt said. "Every year, they get bigger than the one before. Thank you to the guys at American Shredding! Without you this wouldn't be possible."

Gephardt and Brown note that everything shred - including the hard drives and various other media - is recycled for reuse in new products. Besides helping to protect personal information, the event also helps educate the community about the importance of protecting the environment, they sky.

More than eight million Americans were victimized by identity thieves in 2010, according to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, the sponsor of the annual Protect Your Identity Week. A Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialist, Brown says shredding all personal documents is the surest way to protect against identity theft.

"Bill and Matt try to help consumers and thought of idea to help do a free shred day to help protect people's identity after doing stories about people losing identity because of dumpster diving and stolen mail," Brown explains. "That sort of sparked it from there."
And the 2News Team selected American Shredding, he adds, because of its high level of security, and its unique "multi-shred" approach to shredding. "We shred the documents in front of the customers then put the shredded matter through another two shredders to grind it down to nothing. That's what makes us unique in Utah."