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By DONALD MOTTERN | Staff Writer 

PELHAM – Thanks to cooperation between the city of Pelham and a local company, residents of the city will soon have the opportunity to dispose of sensitive documents, papers and electronic devices at no charge.

In partnership with Secure Shredding and Recycling, formerly known as Protec, and the city of Pelham, residents will have the opportunity to bring sensitive paper documents and electronic devices for shredding and destruction during a three-hour event set to be held at the Pelham City Hall at 3162 Pelham Parkway on Saturday, March 30 from 9 a.m. to noon.

“Residents should not bring paper in three-ring binders,” read instructions posted by the city of Pelham. “Secure Shredding will not accept wet paper. Manila folders, envelopes and office paper are fine.”

Further clarifications also stipulate that while papers joined by staples and paper clips are acceptable, residents are strongly encouraged to preemptively remove binder clips from any and all documents before bringing them for processing.

There will be a six-box limit per resident for free document shredding.

Event organizers also clarified that documents can be brought for shredding in any receptacle of choice and that containers, boxes, bags etc. will be returned to each individual once their documents are securely placed in the shredder.

In addition to paper documents, residents will also be able to bring a collection of electronic devices for recycling as long as they fall under a list of pre-approved items. Hard drive destruction will cost an additional $10 per item with cash being the preferred means of transaction.

Accepted electronic devices include:

• PCs, including laptops
•  Servers, modems and routers
•  Cell phones and tablets
•  Satellite and cable boxes
•  Gaming systems and components
•  Stereos and radios
•  Switches and firewalls
•  Printers and fax machines
•  VCR, DVD and CD players
•  Remote Controls
•  MP3 players
•  A/C adapters and other cables
•  LCD monitors
•  Ink and toner cartridges
•  Rechargeable batteries
•  Hard drives including external
•  Speakers
•  Cameras
•  Appliances
•  Consumer electronics
•  Battery backups
•  Keyboards and mice
•  Standalone copiers

In order for Secure Shredding and Recycling to correctly dispose of hard drives, they will have to transport all collected drives to their processing facility for disposal. Therefore, in the spirit of transparency, the city and Secure Shredding and Recycling are alerting all residents that the destruction of hard drives will not occur on-site the day of the event.

The shredding and e-recycling event will also coincide with the bi-annual Shelby County Free Landfill Day which will allow all Shelby County residents to dispose of items freely from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on March 30.

The Shelby County Highway 70 Landfill is located at 401 Landfill Road between Columbiana and Calera and the facility will not accept hazardous waste, tires, batteries or liquids as part of the event.

The city of Pelham has also announced that a future shredding and e-recycling date is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 5. Further details on that future event will be announced in September.