Document shredding event planned for Joplin area residents

(From the City of Joplin)

Many people may have personal papers that are no longer needed and are cluttering their house, but fear of identity theft prevents some people from trashing or recycling these sensitive documents.

To help with this issue, a Paper Shredding Event is set for Saturday, November 20. It will be held from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Joplin Recycling Center, 1310 West A Street.

During this unique opportunity, large amounts of paper can be shredded quickly at no cost to area residents. The document shredding company, Midwest Fibre, will have their mobile shred truck at the Center. This event is free and open to all residents.

The event is sponsored by the Region M Solid Waste Management District, Joplin Recycling Department, and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Identity theft resulting from items stolen from the trash or curbside recycling bins is the easiest type of crime to prevent. By completely shredding documents, receipts, address labels, or pieces of paper with identifying information like account numbers, you can stop identity theft. But simply ripping an item a few times by hand is not sufficient! Identity thieves will spend hours putting ripped documents back together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Types of items identity thieves seek include:

Expired credit and debit cards
Credit and debit card receipts
Unused credit card checks
Credit card statements
Canceled checks
Investment account statements
Pension account statements
Paycheck stubs
Wage and earnings statements
Phone and utility bills
Retail invoices and statements
Tax returns and statements
Medical bills
Insurance claim information
Checking and savings account statements
Pre-approved credit card offers and applications
Insurance policy information (auto, health, life)
Expired identification documents (driver’s licenses and passports)


If residents fear they have been a victim of identity theft, they should contact their local law enforcement agency.

If unable to attend this event, the Joplin Recycling Center has a paper document destruction service on site throughout the year.

The Center utilizes three locked 96-gallon containers that are switched out with empty containers on a weekly basis by CRC Shredding. The process is self-serve---patrons can drop approximately 200 pages at a time through the restricted opening on the container. This service is no cost to patrons. All paper is shredded, mixed with other non-sensitive shredded paper, pulped, and then used in the manufacture of products such as egg cartons.

The Center is open Tuesday and Thursday from Noon to 6 p.m. and Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For more information, contact Lindsey James, Joplin Recycling Coordinator at 417-624-0820, extension 1501 or Patty Overman, Region M District Planner, at 417-625-6626.