FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:

• What areas do you pick up from? We pick up from Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax County, downtown Washington DC, and Georgetown. We also pick-up from parts of: Prince William County, Centreville, Dumfries, Manassas, and Triangle. Evening and Saturday pick-up times available.

• If I don’t live in Alexandria, Arlington or Fairfax, can I still drop off my materials for shredding? Yes, we have customers from Maryland, upper DC, and as far away as 50 miles who come to us for shredding.

• What forms of payment do you accept? We accept cash, checks, and credit cards (Visa, MasterCard and American Express).

• Where are you located? We are just north of the Springfield mixing bowl (intersection of 95, 395, and 495), just off 395 at exit 2A, Edsall Road. We are located at 5604 General Washington Drive, Alexandria, VA 22312. Although the address is Alexandria, we are located in Fairfax County, VA. Click here for an interactive Google map and directions.  http://bit.ly/i95Xzu

• ON TIME GUARANTEE. We will give you a two or three hour arrival window (depending on your location). If we are more than 15 minutes late, we will take $25 off your order.

• Do you serve residential home owners and small businesses? Yes, we will come to your home or small business. We serve large businesses and government offices too.

• How does it work?

Drop-off paper shredding: Start accumulating paper at your home or office into containers such as cardboard boxes or very sturdy plastic bags. You need to be able to transport the containers filled with paper to our facility, so containers have to be loaded so that you can pick up each container, put them in and out of your car, and then we must be able to pick them up to unload the paper onto the shredder conveyor. Any container that you can comfortably carry and place in and out of your car is fine. The containers can be returned to you if you like. The containers should weigh less than 50 lbs each so one person can carry them easily. The most efficient container to fill is either a standard file or bankers box which measures 10” x 12” x 15”, or a paper ream box commonly known as a “Xerox “ box that holds 10 reams of paper, or 5000 sheets, and measures 10” x 12” x 18”. When you arrive at our Alexandria facility, bring your containers of paper inside with you, or if you need help, come inside for a hand cart or ask ShredStation personnel to help. The containers of paper will be placed on a scale and weighed and priced based on the total weight.

If you have paper and e-media items for shredding, it is helpful if you separate them into different containers.

Taking the papers out of 3 ring binders and removing all metal spring clips and other large metals speeds up the shredding process. There is no need to remove staples or regular size paper clips.

Pick-up paper shredding: Start accumulating paper at your home or office into containers such as cardboard boxes, or very sturdy, heavy-duty plastic bags. It is important that the containers that contain the paper to be shredded can be picked up by our personnel or loaded onto a cart, and placed into the truck for transporting to our facility. You can call on the phone to schedule a pick-up day and time, or click on the website link: “Request a Pick-Up” to schedule a time when we will come to your location and pick up whatever containers you have.

Electronics, e-media, hard drives, smart phones shredding: Bring in or schedule a pick-up of electronic media items or memory-enabled devices that contain personal or business information. You can remove the hard drive yourself from your computer, or you can bring in the complete computer tower or laptop, and we will remove the hard drive (s) for you and shred them. Items such as floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes, zip disks, microfilm, thumb drives, PDAs, GPS, credit cards, hotel key cards, membership cards, license plates, etc, can also be shredded and completely destroyed.

Electronics recycling:  If you have complete computers, towers, laptops, monitors, printers, copiers, scanners, fax machines, TV’s, or just about any electrical item with a cord, we pick them up or you can bring them to us and we will responsibly recycle them..

• How much does it cost? All pricing is volume-based so you get more for less. You pay less per pound the more you have.

             Paper shredding: The price is based on the amount of paper you wish to have shredded. The more paper you bring in at one time, the less per pound it will cost. The cost can be as low as $5.00 for drop-off shredding.

Electronics – We accept computer towers and accessories such as keyboards, mice, cables, cords free of charge. Cell phones that contain personal and sensitive information can be shredded and destroyed or cell phones with no sensitive information are accepted free and donated to Cell Phones for Soldiers. Anything with glass or a screen, such as a monitor, laptop, TV, involves a fee for recycling.

• How many pounds of paper do I have? The following are general guidelines for figuring how much paper you have:

 A ream of paper (2 inch stack of 8-1/2”x 11” paper  – about 500 pieces) weighs about 5 lbs;

Standard banker’s letter-size file box, measures 10” x 12” x 15”, weighs approximately 25 – 30 lbs;

Standard Xerox size box which measures 10” x 12” x 18”, weighs approximately 30 – 35 lbs;

Banker’s legal-size file box, measures 10”x12”x24”, weighs approximately 45 – 50 lbs;

13 gallon white trash bag averages about 20 – 25 lbs;

33 gallon black garbage bag averages about 35-40 lbs.

One way to find out how many pounds of paper you have is to hold the container of paper while you weigh yourself on your bathroom scale, then weigh yourself without holding the paper, and calculate the difference between the two.

• Can I watch it being shredded? YES. We use a variety of shredders to destroy and shred your materials. The paper shredder is a commercial-sized shredder that is housed in a separate room with a glass window that you can look through. You can actually witness your paper going into the shredder and coming out shredded. We use a separate shredder for CDs, DVDs, credit cards, and plastics. Another commercial-sized shredder is used just to shred metals and harder materials and is used for shredding hard drives, disks, phones, license plates, etc. You can watch while all your materials are being shredded. 

• Do I have to make an appointment? If you find you have 5 or more banker sized boxes of paper or larger sized boxes of paper to be shredded, it is best to schedule an appointment when we can assist you on an individual basis. We will meet you at the Alexandria facility and shred your items while you wait, or if you cannot wait, you can drop off your items and leave them for shredding and destruction.

• What kind of paper do you shred? We shred all types of paper. If you can tear it, it can be shredded. This includes checkbooks, checkbook registers, tax returns – anything that contains personal and /or proprietary information. In addition, we can shred other types of paper that are not so easily torn. This includes posters, and heavy stock paper that contains personal or proprietary information. When cardboard or heavy stock paper does not contain personal or proprietary information, it is best recycled as is rather than shredding.

• Does all my paper have to be shredded? NO, paper that does not contain personal or sensitive information or is not proprietary does not have to be shredded. This includes “junk” mail, magazines, periodicals, brochures. ShredStation Express accepts this type of paper free and recycles it.

• What does ShredStation Express do with the paper it shreds? The shredded paper from ShredStation Express is recycled and remanufactured into new paper products. Nothing goes to the landfill.

• What does ShredStation Express do with the metals it shreds? Shredded metal from computer hard drives is recycled as e-scrap metals. Other metals are recycled as well. Nothing goes to the landfill.

If you have additional questions or need more information,

please call 703-347-4638

When your personal shredder just won’t cut it!

Our Location: 5604 General Washington Drive, Alexandria, VA 22312