- University Homepage
- Schools & departments
- Estates & Buildings
- Waste and Recycling
- A-Z Guide to Recycling & Waste
- Confidential waste (£)
Confidential waste (£)
The section gives a detailed account of how to dispose of your papers or data (CDs, tapes, discs) securely.
This includes an overview of shredding specifications if your School or Unit shreds confidential data internally.
Additionally, this section includes information on the different external disposal routes available, depending on the number of bags needing uplifted, as well as cost. Please note that papers must be bagged separately to CDs, DVDs, tapes and discs.
In-house Shredding
Some Schools / Units prefer to shred their sensitive papers in-house. Where this is the case, it is pertinent to refer to the University Records Management Section's guidance on Disposing of Records in order to assess the level of sensitivity of the data concerned.
When deciding on the specification of in-house shredders, as well as considering Health & Safety, cost and energy consumption, purchasers should consider the security level (or DIN) of the shredder being considered.
It is up to the School / Unit to ensure that the level of shredding employed by in-house shredders is appropriate for the level of sensitivity of data being disposed of. It is likely that "Medium" and "High" sensitivity relate to at least DIN security levels 3 and 4.
Shredded paper should be placed into a clear sack and sent to paper recycling.
- Records Managment - Disposal of Records
- German Institute for Standardisation
- Shredding - DIN article on Wikipedia
Confidential Waste Service
Overview
In order to secure the best possible price and to reduce the administrative burden on Schools and Units, Estates & Buildings coordinates a centralised contract for small-scale confidential waste uplift and destruction.
Shred-It awarded confidential waste contract
Shred-It was awarded our contract for small scale confidential waste collection and secure destruction in May 2010.
Shred-it operate to the recommended British Standard BS EN 15713:2009 (Secure destruction of confidential material - code of practice). They also operate to ISO 9001 (Quality standard) and ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System standard).
In order to make use of this contract, you will need to provide us with certain information about your requirements and we will make arrangements accordingly.
You will need to email the Waste & Recycling Office to let us know what quantity of waste you have to dispose of and over what sort of time period. We will then be able to supply you with an appropriate number of bags or consoles in order to meet your needs.
Arrange uplift and delivery of sacks
To obtain bags (white hessian bags with blue writing) , please contact the Waste & Recycling Team. We keep a stock of bags and can generally put some into the internal mail for you or organise a delivery to you.
To organise an uplift of full sacks, please follow the steps outlined below:
- Produce an eIT listing Estates & Buildings as the Supplying Unit and Estates Waste Management as the sub-Unit. Please list Sophie Rippinger or Natalia Gibczynska as the Supplier Receiver.
- Complete a "Shred-it ad-hoc uplift form" - linked below - and forward it to waste@ed.ac.uk along with your eIT number.
- If you require more empty sacks and ties delivered, please also let us know how many you require in your email.
- eIT section
- Shred-it ad-hoc uplift form (Word 2010 version)
- Shred-it ad-hoc uplift form (earlier version of Word)
Storage of bags prior to uplift
Please note it is the responsibility of the Department to ensure that the confidential sacks are stored securely before uplift of the contractor.
As part of the new service offered by Shred-It, it is possible to specify a lockable Console. This unit keeps your confidential waste secure whilst enabling you to store it in an accessible location. If you are interested in trialling a Console unit then please get in touch.
Secure Console Service
If you produce a reasonably large quantity of confidential papers (e.g. at least 4 bags worth) on a frequent basis (e.g. weekly, fortnightly or monthly), it may be more cost effective for you to use the Secure Console service offered by Shred-it.
Please contact the Waste & Recycling Office for more information.
Cost of service
Costs depends on the type of confidential waste you have to dispose of; confidential papers or confidential data on CDs, Tapes, Discs etc, as well the method of packing. The two options for packing are bags or consoles.
Please email the Waste & Recycling team for prices.
13 Infirmary Street
Edinburgh EH1 1LT
United Kingdom
More information
For more information on dealing with confidential waste please refer to Waste Guidance Note, WGN0018 - Confidential Waste.
This article was published on Mar 27, 2013