San Mateo County Facilities The recycling program for county employees Confidential Records Many County facilities generate large quantities of paper that contain private information. This material is handled differently than mixed paper recycling due to its confidential nature. We have a contract with Northern California Paper Recyclers (NorCal) to collect these records and shred them prior to recycling. If your office generates confidential records, you should already have special bins to collect the records.

Don't Shred it All

A document is confidential when it has the name of a County resident on it. Examples are patient medical records, police file information, tax information, etc. It's easy to just throw all your paper in the confidential bins for recycling, but resist the urge! The County pays hefty fees to ensure that our records are destroyed prior to recycling. These fees increase based on the weight of the paper and the number of times NorCal collects the paper. By keeping mixed paper out of the confidential bins, you are saving the County money.