BUCKHANNON – Community members can utilize a free paper-shredding event this Saturday, Sept. 18 to dispose of sensitive documents.

Belinda Lewis, director of the Upshur County Solid Waste Authority, said the event will take place at 395 Mud Lick Road from 9 a.m. to noon.

“We used to hold the event at Walmart, so I’ve really tried to spread the word that it’s across from the Waste Transfer Station or the place where they bring their trash and recycling,” Lewis said. “They won’t be able to miss it because I just got a huge red-and-white sign.”

Lewis said this event is for residential shredding.

“Anybody that has things they want to shred — legal documents, anything that they don’t just want to throw away that that might compromise their identity – they can bring either two banker boxes, or two 13-gallon bags of whatever they need shredded, and they can stand there and watch them get shredded,” Lewis said. “It’s not like we’re just going to collect a bunch of paper, and then we’ll shred it eventually; they can rest assured that it will be shredded while they stand there.”

All recycling services were moved to the Waste Transfer Station on Mud Lick Road after Crossroads Recycling Center by Walmart was contaminated numerous times.

“We could not get ahead of the contamination; it was just terrible,” Lewis said. “Even when we tried to open it on Saturdays and have somebody there to supervise, people would throw away garbage when the person stepped away for a couple minutes, but they can still bring all the recycling out to 395 Mud Lick Road.”

In a previous My Buckhannon article, Lewis said the paper shredding events are pretty popular.

“We get probably between 5,500 to 6,000 pounds of shredded paper,” she said. “Even with COVID, in September 2020, we had almost 80 people participating, while we usually have about 100, so it’s really well used, and people look forward to it.”

The Recycling Center at Mud Lick Road is also open from 7:30 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 7:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. on Saturdays. Items that can be recycled at the center include newspaper, corrugated cardboard, No. 1 plastic soda bottles, No. 2 clear milk jugs and aluminum and steel cans without liners. The center will also accept electronics, except computer monitors and TVs.