Corporate social responsibility

Our corporate social responsibility efforts focus on three key areas. These areas are the community, the environment, and people. Operating with these areas in mind ensures we meet the highest standards in socially responsible behaviour, environmental sustainability, and employer ethics.

Shred Station in the community

At Shred Station, we continuously look for ways to help our local communities. Here are just a few examples of the ways we work to positively impact the communities in which we live, work, and operate.

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Community shredding events

To ensure our services are accessible for every budget, we regularly host free community shredding events. These events allow local businesses and individuals to access free shredding in one of our bespoke mobile shredding trucks. A small donation to a local charity is optional for all those who attend these events. Follow our social channels for community shredding event updates.

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Education

We’ve created two ‘Simon Shred’ activity books and colouring sheets to teach children about protecting their confidential information and recycling in a fun and interactive way. We provide these to schools and medical practices to engage children and get them thinking about information security from a young age.

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School events and community days

We regularly attend schools, educational establishments, community centres, and NHS sites to support educational events such as Recycle Week, careers fairs, and much more.

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Sports sponsorship

One way we support our local communities is through sports sponsorships. Teams we have sponsored include Wroxham FC, Broxborne Badgers FC, Dussindale Rovers FC, Ercall Colts under 12 girls, and the Peterborough Phantoms. Shred Station was also the official back-of-shorts and dugout sponsor of Norwich City FC for many years, and we remain the official waste management supplier to the team.

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Sculpture trails

Shred Station is a regular sponsor of Break Charity’s regional GoGo sculpture trails. These trails support local artists and help to raise vital funds for Break - an amazing charity in East Anglia that supports children entering, within, and exiting the care system. Trails we have sponsored include GoGoDragons, GoGoHares, GoGoDiscover, and GoGoSafari. The sculptures we have sponsored have been auctioned off, raising thousands of pounds for the charity over the years.

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Charity support

There are many ways we support local charities. For example, we have donated hoodies to the homeless, helped to create 50,000+ face shields for frontline workers, supported countless gift appeals, and regularly support The Feed - a community supermarket and meal service provider in Norwich. Our internal Charity Challenge team also regularly organises fun fundraising events for staff to participate in. This includes bake-offs, team sports challenges, and much more.

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The Waste World Cup

Shred Station is a regular participant in the annual Waste World Cup. The Waste World Cup is hosted by letsrecycle.com in aid of Waste Aid UK. It sees companies from across the UK waste management industry taking part in a full-day football tournament, battling to win a coveted trophy. We’re pleased to say there are several trophies with our name on!

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Volunteering

In addition to the charity work we do as a company, we encourage our employees to support charities and help in their local communities whenever they can. We support these efforts by allocating two paid volunteer days each year to every one of our employees. By allowing staff time away from work to participate in community fundraising or volunteer events, we can support a much wider network of causes in the community. Allowing staff time to engage in activities and causes important to them is also good for staff wellbeing, letting them return to work energised by the “helper’s high” that altruistic behaviour can bring.

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Services that suit everyone

We recognise that, for some, shredding services aren’t as simple as us coming to their home or business and taking away their documents. We carry out many domestic collections where customers have mobility issues or may be disposing of confidential materials of a loved one, whilst still bereft. For collections like this, we offer an 'Extra Care Personal Service' at no additional cost. This service ensures our dedicated operatives set aside additional time to carry out the collection and act with extra sensitivity in mind. This ensures we can provide our customers with extra care when they need it most.

The environment

Shred Station is a lifetime CarbonNeutral® certified company. Environmental responsibility is vitally important to who we are. It is also ingrained in the six core pillars of our ethos:

We want our customers to feel confident about information destruction
Security every step of the way
A service to suit everyone
Minimal environmental impacts
Minimal interruptions for our customers
Lead the industry through customer service and innovation.

Key environmental stats

We reduce emissions wherever possible and take many steps to have positive impacts on the world around us. This includes ensuring our operational processes are sustainable and that we always continue to act in the interest of preserving natural resources.

50,000+

tonnes of paper shredded and recycled every year

15,000+

tonnes of carbon offset since 2008

17,000+

trees planted through staff fundraising and our customer tree planting scheme

A key element of our corporate social responsibility efforts is our ongoing consideration of how we impact the environment around us and how to prevent any ecological damage. In 2019, after many years of reducing emissions, we first achieved annual CarbonNeutral® company certification - something we’ve maintained each year since. In 2024, we went a step further by offsetting all internal historic emissions ever produced by the business, making us a lifetime CarbonNeutral certified company. We are also ISO 14001 certified, further demonstrating our robust environmental management systems.

You can read more about our environmental actions by visiting the pages below and scrolling through some of our key environmental achievements and news articles.

Our journey towards being a lifetime carbon-neutral company
Our robust environmental policies.

Photographs from several offsetting project sites supported by Shred Station - alongside the text

Our head office is powered by solar panels, generating 40,000+ kWh per year.

Photographs of large solar arrays on top of Shred Station's buildings, above text which reads -

Our head office is powered by solar panels, generating 40,000+ kWh per year.

Zero to Landfill policy - Absolutely nothing we shred goes to landfill and 100% of the paper we shred is recycled at UK mills.

We operate with a strict Zero to Landfill policy, and 100% of the paper we shred is recycled at UK mills.

Photographs of electric trucks in the Shred Station fleet alongside the text -

Our fleet is comprised of ultra-low emission vehicles, all of which meet Euro 6 Low Emission standards. We have purchased several fully electric trucks, and are transitioning all company cars to hybrid or electric models.

An illustration of a Shred Station operative plugging in his truck's electric side lift. Text says -

We are using HVO in our fuel mix. HVO creates c.88.3% less CO2e per litre than diesel.

A photograph of a pink electric JCB forklift alongside the text -

Our diesel-powered forklifts are being replaced by fully electric models. So far, we’ve replaced 7, saving us c.72,800 litres of diesel per year.

An illustration of a wind turbine next to the text -

We support verified global offsetting projects, including afforestation, reforestation, and renewable energy projects.

A photograph of a field planted with hundreds of tree saplings, alongside text that reads -

We offer our customers a Shred a Tonne, Plant a Tree scheme.

An illustration of people planting trees, underneath text which reads -

Our Charity Challenge Team has planted 10,067 trees through staff challenges and fundraising efforts.

All bins are now manufactured in a closed loop system. All cabinets are made from sustainable wood.

Our signature blue confidential waste bins are now manufactured in a closed-loop system, and our cabinets are manufactured using sustainably sourced wood.

We are contributing to innovation in the UK textile industry. We have joined the ACT UK project and the Digital Supply Chain Hub.

Sustainability efforts and milestones

You can read more about some of our sustainability efforts and milestones via the links below.

View all Shred Station news articles

The ACT UK project findings

The Autosort for Circular Textiles Demonstrator (ACT UK) project aimed to produce a blueprint for a fully integrated, automated sorting and pre-processing demonstrator for waste textiles.

Carbon offsetting projects - 2025

In 2025, Shred Station supported a solar project in India and an afforestation project in Uruguay.

Shred Station adds second fully electric HGV to fleet

Take a closer look at our first electric hooklift truck.

Shred Station reduces fleet emissions with a fully electric articulated lorry

Take a closer look at the electric artic.

Shred Station’s founder appears on Net Zero 50 list

The Net Zero 50 list highlights the UK's top 50 individuals driving progress towards the goal of being a Net Zero nation by 2050.

Shred Station becomes lifetime carbon neutral

We became lifetime carbon-neutral in 2024, six years ahead of our goal.

Carbon offsetting projects - 2024

In 2024, Shred Station supported a wind power portfolio in Turkey and an afforestation project in Uruguay.

How Shred Station is reducing emissions

The main Sustainable Development Goal we work to support is Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.

Shred Station joins £4m project to revolutionise textile recycling

The Autosort for Circular Textiles Demonstrator (ACT UK) is a two-year project to develop and pilot the world’s first fully integrated, automated sorting and pre-processing plant for waste textiles.

Fuelled by HVO: Our next step in reducing emissions

Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil, or HVO, is a cleaner and more efficient diesel alternative.

Carbon offsetting projects - 2023

In 2023, Shred Station supported the Zhaoyuan Xinlong Shunde wind farm in China.

Shred Station replaces diesel forklifts with electric models

Shred Station is saving around 10,400 litres of diesel per year with each electric forklift.

Carbon offsetting projects - 2022

In 2022, Shred Station supported the Fuxin wind farm in China.

Our steps towards a climate-friendly fleet

Read about the steps Shred Station is taking to reduce the environmental impacts of its fleet.

Shred Station Directors risk a pie in the face to plant trees!

Directors at Shred Station risked a swift pie to the face to raise money for the company’s 10,000-tree challenge in 2022.

Our 10,000 tree challenge

Shred Station's team planted 10,067 trees in 2022 through fundraising and team challenges.

Shred Station's confidential waste bins are now closed-loop

We've closed the loop on our signature blue confidential waste bins.

Carbon offsetting projects - 2021

In 2021, Shred Station supported the Gobi Wind Power Project in China and the West India Wind Project.

Carbon offsetting projects - 2020

In 2020, Shred Station supported the West India Wind Project.

What happens to our old confidential waste bins?

We explain the recycling process for our old confidential waste bins.

Carbon offsetting projects - 2019

In our first year of achieving CarbonNeutral certification, we supported the Uganda Community Reforestation Project.

View all Shred Station news articles

Shred Station fleet and operatives at IWM Duxford

Our people

We understand that by being a business that invests in people, we are investing in the future of the company.

Our story started in 2008. Back then, we operated from a single shredding truck that allowed us to provide on-site shredding services to local businesses. Now, we operate a fleet of 100+ vehicles, employ 180+ staff, and perform 150,000+ services each year. We simply wouldn’t be where we are today without the skills, positive attitude, and industriousness of our team.

Meet some of our team members

How we invest in people

It’s incredibly important to us that our team of hard-working, security-vetted staff are happy, confident, and feel fulfilled in their roles. Here are some of the ways we invest in people.

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Staff training and development

We upskill our employees by providing tailored, easily digestible training in areas such as information security, safety, social awareness, and well-being. We enrol our workforce in 4,000+ courses each year, with over 1,000 hours spent on Continuing Professional Development. We build employee confidence by investing in their knowledge, all the while improving services for our customers. We also nearly always aim to promote internally, providing avenues for hard-working employees to grow professionally.

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Equal opportunities

We understand the importance of having a diverse workforce and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. The majority of our workforce is comprised of HGV drivers - an overwhelmingly male career path. However, we have worked to improve diversity and opportunities for women at Shred Station. Currently, 31% of our managers are female, and 16% of managers openly identify as LGBTQ+. We have a way to go, but we are actively working to reach minorities and create opportunities for disabled candidates.

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Open avenues for communication

We keep avenues for communication open across all levels of the business with company-wide open-door policies. This speeds up our internal processes and also ensures that ideas can be shared to make improvements. We encourage employees to suggest improvements and report hazards anonymously or openly. We have QR-coded posters at each of our depots and available online, enabling all employees to suggest improvements - not just those with email accounts.

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Volunteering

As mentioned in the Community section of this page, every employee at Shred Station is entitled to two paid volunteer days each year. These days, which employees are encouraged to arrange, can be used at any charity or volunteering event important to the employee, from stewarding at charity sculpture trails to cleaning out goats at local animal sanctuaries.

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Teambuilding

We foster a positive workplace culture by having an internal Charity Challenge team. This team organises company-backed fundraising and team-building events to develop closer bonds between our staff and encourage positive cross-departmental communication. These events have included team escape room challenges, bowling nights, charity bake-offs, sports events, art competitions, and much more.