Shredded paper disposal in the City of San Diego is simple. Bag the shreds, ideally in a paper bag, and put the bag in your blue recycling bin. Shredded paper is the one recyclable the City asks you to bag. You can also compost plain shreds or reuse them as packing. Outside the City, check your own hauler.
If you are still sorting the pile, start with our guide on what documents should you shred, and check how long to keep documents before anything goes in. This page picks up once the shredder bin is full.
Can you recycle shredded paper?
Yes, in many programs, but not loose. Shredded paper recycling is harder than recycling whole sheets, for two reasons.
First, shredding cuts the paper fibers shorter. Paper mills need longer fibers to make new paper, so shreds are worth less than whole sheets. Second, small pieces are hard to sort. At a sorting facility, loose shreds slip through screens, blow around and get mixed into other materials.
Bagging fixes the sorting problem. That is why programs that let you recycle paper shreddings usually ask you to contain them, and why some programs won't take them at all. The right answer depends on where you live.
How to recycle shredded paper in San Diego
- City of San Diego residents. Put the shreds in a bag and place the bag in the blue bin. The City's recycling FAQ prefers a paper bag but accepts a plastic bag. Everything else in the blue bin should stay loose.
- Other cities in the county. Chula Vista, Oceanside, Escondido and the other cities have their own haulers and rules. Check your hauler's website before you bag shreds, especially in plastic.
- Businesses. The City's 2026 tax files recycling flyer points businesses to WasteFreeSD.org, where they can search for paper shredding services.
- Keep the extras out. Pull out plastic windows, binder parts and food-stained paper where you can.
Fold or tie the bag closed so the shreds stay put when the truck tips the bin. A loosely closed bag defeats the point of bagging.
Which option fits your shreds?
The best route for shredded paper disposal depends on how much you have and what kind of paper it is. Use this as a quick guide.
| What you have | Best route | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A small bag of plain office paper shreds | Bag it and put it in the blue bin, or add it to a home compost bin | Clean paper is easy to recycle once it is contained |
| Several bags at once | Spread them over a few collection weeks, or skip the home shredder next time and use a service | A blue bin full of shreds leaves no room for other recyclables |
| Glossy, coated or colored shreds | Recycle them bagged, and keep them out of compost | Coatings break down slowly in a compost pile |
| Shreds mixed with staples, plastic windows or binder parts | Pick out what you can, then recycle bagged | Plastic and metal pieces contaminate the paper |
| Wet, greasy or food-soiled shreds | Trash, bagged | Recyclers can't use soiled paper |
If you find yourself filling bag after bag every week, that is usually a sign the volume has outgrown a home shredder.
Composting shredded paper
Plain office paper shreds make a good dry layer in a home compost bin or worm bin. Gardeners call this a brown, the carbon-rich material that balances wet greens such as food scraps and grass clippings.
To compost paper shreddings well, mix them in rather than dumping a thick mat on top, and dampen them a little so they break down. Skip glossy, coated or heavily inked paper, such as magazines and photo paper. Those are better off in the recycling.
The green bin is a separate question. Check the City of San Diego's organics rules, or your own hauler's, before you put shredded paper in a green bin.
Other ways to use shredded paper
- Packing material for boxes you store or move yourself.
- Bedding for small pets, as long as the paper is plain and free of glossy inks.
- A carbon layer under your compost pile.
- Gift filler, but only from paper that never held personal details.
Don't send shreds of bank statements or medical papers out of the house as packing. A stray piece can still show a few digits or a name.
When the trash is the right answer
Wet, greasy or food-soiled shreds, and shreds mixed with plastic or other junk, belong in the trash if your program won't take them. Bag them first so they don't blow out of the bin and across the street.
Is it safe to recycle shredded documents?
For most household paper, yes. Shredded pages are far harder to read than whole ones, and at the recycling facility they are mixed in with a great deal of other paper.
The cut matters. Cross-cut and micro-cut shreds break lines of text into small pieces. Strip-cut shreds keep whole lines on each strip, so mix strips from different pages in one bag instead of keeping each page's strips together.
For large volumes or very sensitive records, a professional service shreds and recycles in one step, so readable paper never sits in a bin at the curb. Our paper shredding and document security guides compare the options.
What happens to paper at a shredding company
At a professional shredder, the paper is destroyed first and recycled second. Dream's paper shredding page says every batch is baled and sent for recycling into new paper products. The documents are already unreadable before they leave.
If you are choosing between a home shredder and a service, think about volume and time. A few pages a week suit a home machine. A garage full of boxes, or a steady stream of office paper, is usually easier with a one-time purge or a scheduled service.
Rather skip the home shredder?
Dream shreds and recycles documents for homes and businesses across San Diego County. A one-time purge clears a pile of boxes in a single service. Offices can set up scheduled service with a locked console or bin, a key and scheduled swaps. See paper shredding in San Diego for details, or ask a question before you book.
Frequently asked questions
Should I put shredded paper in a plastic bag?
In the City of San Diego, a paper bag is preferred and a plastic bag is accepted for shreds going into the blue bin. Shredded paper is the City's one exception to keeping recyclables loose. Other cities in San Diego County use different haulers, so check your hauler's rules before you use plastic.
Can I put loose shredded paper in the blue bin?
Not in the City of San Diego. The City asks you to bag shredded paper before it goes in the blue bin, because loose shreds scatter and are hard to sort at the recycling facility. Bag the shreds, close the bag well, and put it in the bin with your other recyclables.
Can glossy shredded paper be composted?
It is better not to. Glossy and coated papers break down slowly and carry coatings you don't want in garden soil. Compost plain office paper and newspaper shreds instead. Put glossy shreds in the recycling, bagged the way your program asks, or in the trash if your program won't take them.
Do shredding companies recycle the paper?
Many do, but ask any company you use where the shreds end up. Dream bales every batch of shredded paper and sends it for recycling into new paper products, according to its paper shredding service page. The paper is shredded before it leaves, so the recycler never sees readable documents.
Is shredded paper better in the trash or the recycling?
Recycling is the better route for shredded paper disposal when the shreds are clean, dry and bagged the way your program asks. Use the trash for wet, greasy or food-soiled shreds, or if your city's program doesn't accept shredded paper. In the City of San Diego, clean shreds in a closed bag go in the blue bin.
