Smithtown Hosts Biggest Paper Shredding Event to Date

On Saturday, September 21st, over 300 households dropped by Town Hall to safely shred over six tons of sensitive documents. Ten minutes before the official start, a line of cars formed, eagerly anticipating the bi-annual shredding event, held courtesy of the Smithtown Department of Environment and Waterways, Municipal Services Facility, and the Department of Public Safety.

“The turnout this time around was significantly higher than previous events and I expect its popularity to continue to grow next year. This free service gives us an opportunity to educate the public about the environmental and social benefits of safely disposing sensitive documents while providing a much needed service to our residents that they truly appreciate.” – Supervisor Ed Wehrheim

Once the last of the paper was shredded by the industrial strength “Shreddersaurus,” there were approximately 30 cubic yards, or 12,580 pounds in paper collected and securely disposed of. There was a steady stream of residents coming throughout the day to have their personal papers safely destroyed.

“This free service to our residents continues to grow in popularity… I want to thank DEW, MSF, and Public Safety personnel, who devoted their Saturdays to ensuring that our residents had little to no wait time. They were courteous and polite and I think that makes all the difference.” – Councilman Tom McCarthy

The first Paper Shredding event of the year was held on April 6th, with 203 households participating. In 2018, there were a total of 341 households who participated in safely disposing 10.1 tons of paper in the Summer and Fall combined.

The September event took place at Town Hall on Main Street in Smithtown from 9:00AM through 3:00PM. The Paper Shredding service was provided by Data Shredding Service, Inc. of Corporate Drive in Hauppauge. The final total of shredded paper weighed in at 12,580 pounds, or 6.3 tons.