C.O.P.S.

What C.O.P.S. does

C.O.P.S. (Confidential On-Site Paper Shredding) is a privately held, NAID AAA-certified mobile shredding operator founded in 2003 in Normal, Illinois, and operating as a subsidiary of Midwest Fiber Recycling. The company runs eight mobile shredding trucks that travel to customer sites across Central Illinois and Metro East (as of 2025), performing on-site destruction of paper, hard drives, CDs/DVDs, tapes, micro media, and obsolete branded products. Core technology rests on a patented no-touch automated process in which locked collection bins lift onto an external truck chute and feed directly into the shredder, with optional CCTV witnessing and bar-coded container tracking at time of destruction; throughput capacity is reported at up to 75 lbs/minute per truck and up to 5 tons of material returned per truck per day for recycling.

The business model combines subscription-style recurring commercial contracts (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly pick-ups; bins supplied at no charge; monthly electronic billing; Certificate of Destruction per service) with transactional one-time services including office cleanouts, residential mobile shredding, drop-off shredding, and quote-based product destruction. Customer segments are layered horizontally: commercial accounts (offices, medical, legal, financial institutions needing HIPAA/FACTA/HITECH/GLB compliance), residential households, and small/home-office businesses. All shredded material is vertically routed to parent Midwest Fiber's recycling center, eliminating third-party disposal. Marketing is field-led through direct phone outreach, online scheduling, and recurring Community Shred Day events sponsored by local businesses and institutions.

Name

C.O.P.S.

Legal name

Confidential On-Site Paper Shredding

Website

https://cops-shred.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

C.O.P.S. is a privately held, NAID AAA-certified mobile shredding company operating a fleet of eight on-site shredding trucks across Central Illinois and Metro East, serving commercial, residential, and small-business customers with paper, media, and product destruction services recycled through parent Midwest Fiber.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Secure Document Destruction Services

NAICS

Waste Management and Remediation Services (562), Materials Recovery Facilities (56292)

SIC

Refuse Systems (4953)

akta.pro primary industry

Confidential Document & Media Destruction (On-site Shredding Programs) (BPABALAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Confidential Document Destruction & Secure Recycling (Shredding) (IMAIAFAO), Data Destruction Services (On-site/Off-site, Media Sanitization) (BPALAIAC)

Keywords

• Mobile paper shredding
• Document destruction services
• Media destruction services
• Secure shredding services
• Product destruction services

Headquarters

HQ city

Normal

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Commercial Paper Shredding Services: Recurring scheduled shredding services for commercial businesses with locked collection bins provided at no charge. Billed monthly electronically with flexible service schedules (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly). Includes Certificate of Destruction and compliance documentation.
2. One-Time/Purge Shredding Services: One-time cleanout services for businesses doing office moves, file purges, or storage cleanouts. Pricing based on number of boxes or pounds of material. Certificate of Destruction provided.
3. Residential Shredding Services: Mobile truck service for residential customers at their homes, and drop-off shredding at designated locations. Drop-off pricing is $40 per 95g bin. Residential mobile service is $125 for the 1st bin and $75 for each additional bin.
4. Media and Hard Drive Destruction: Secure mobile hard-drive and media destruction services including CDs, DVDs, tapes, and micro media. Complete destruction ensures data cannot be retrieved or reconstructed.
5. Product Destruction Services: Secure destruction of obsolete, defective, or surplus products including branded merchandise, proprietary components, and obsolete inventory. Includes Certificate of Destruction and eco-friendly disposal with material recycling where possible.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

C.O.P.S. (Confidential On-Site Paper Shredding) provides end-to-end on-site mobile paper shredding services using patented no-touch shredding technology, along with hard drive and media destruction services. The company operates a fleet of mobile shredding trucks that come to customer locations across Central Illinois to securely destroy confidential documents, digital media, and obsolete branded products. All shredded materials are recycled through its parent company Midwest Fiber.

Product overview

C.O.P.S. (Confidential On-Site Paper Shredding) is a NAID-certified mobile shredding service company operating a fleet of shredding trucks across Central Illinois. The company offers a unified service portfolio centered on secure document and media destruction, with four core offerings (Commercial Paper Shredding, Residential Paper Shredding, Hard Drive/Media Destruction, and Product Destruction) complemented by supporting services including locked Containers, Records Cleanout, Drop and Shred Locations, and Community Shred Days. All shredded materials are recycled through parent company Midwest Fiber. The services operate on a subscription/recurring model or one-time purge basis, with customers provided complimentary locked bins for material collection.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Commercial Paper Shredding On-site mobile paper shredding service for businesses requiring recurring or one-time confidential document destruction, with locked collection bins, flexible schedules (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly), and Certificate of Destruction for compliance audit trails.
• Residential Paper Shredding On-site mobile shredding and drop-off shredding services for homeowners and small home-based businesses to securely destroy personal sensitive documents. Mobile service is $125 for the first bin and $75 for each additional bin; drop-off is $40 per 95g bin.
• Hard Drive and Media Destruction Secure mobile destruction services for hard drives, CDs, DVDs, tapes, and micro media to prevent data retrieval or reconstruction.
• Product Destruction Secure destruction services for obsolete, defective, or surplus branded merchandise and products to protect brand reputation and intellectual property. Includes Certificate of Destruction and eco-friendly disposal with material recycling where possible.
• Records Cleanout One-time office or storage clean-out service for purging old records and files ready for destruction, with on-site shredding and Certificate of Destruction.
• Drop and Shred Locations Drop-off shredding service locations in Normal, Decatur, Peoria/Chillicothe, and Ottawa for customers who prefer off-site shredding. Minimum $40 includes up to 8 copy boxes of paper.
• Community Shred Day Free community shred events sponsored by local businesses throughout Central Illinois, providing accessible document destruction services to residents and serving as a customer acquisition channel.

Quantifiable outcome

• Trucks shred up to 75 pounds of paper per minute
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Midwest FibercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMidwest Fiber is the parent company of C.O.P.S. All shredded paper from C.O.P.S. trucks is transported daily to Midwest Fiber's recycling center where it's baled and shipped to paper mills for pulping into new products. This vertical integration provides security (no third-party handling) and cost efficiencies.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Recall (Iron Mountain subsidiary): Recall was a major global document management and secure destruction provider before being acquired by Iron Mountain; its legacy services and brand represent a comparable offering in on-site and off-site shredding for enterprise customers. Comparable to C.O.P.S. in core destruction services and compliance focus, with substantially larger scale and geographic reach.
• Shred-it (Stericycle): Stericycle's Shred-it is the dominant North American on-site shredding operator, providing recurring and one-time document destruction services to commercial and residential customers. Comparable to C.O.P.S. in core service offering (mobile shredding, NAID certification, Certificate of Destruction), but operates at vastly larger scale across hundreds of markets, representing both a direct competitor and a benchmark for national procurement.
• Cintas: Cintas is a large national provider of business services including document shredding (Cintas Document Shredding) as part of its broader uniform, facility services, and first aid portfolio. Comparable in offering secure shredding to commercial customers, but typically competes as a multi-service incumbent rather than a shredding specialist.
• Iron Mountain: Iron Mountain is the global leader in records storage, shredding, and information management, offering secure destruction services alongside broader records management and digital solutions. Comparable to C.O.P.S. in document destruction and compliance-driven services, but serves enterprise customers at national scale with much broader service breadth.
• Access Records Management: Access Records Management provides records storage and secure destruction services as part of a broader information management portfolio, serving enterprise and government customers. Comparable to C.O.P.S. in secure destruction offering and compliance positioning, but with a much broader service portfolio and national footprint.

Direct peers

• Corodata: Corodata is a regional records storage and shredding company offering scheduled on-site document destruction services to commercial customers. Comparable to C.O.P.S. in recurring shredding service model and focus on compliance-grade destruction, with vertical integration in records storage.
• PROSHRED Security: PROSHRED is a North American mobile shredding franchise operator offering on-site paper, hard drive, and product destruction services to commercial and residential customers. Closely comparable to C.O.P.S. in service model, technology positioning (mobile trucks, NAID certification), and target customer segments, though operating across multiple franchises rather than a single regional subsidiary.
• DataShield: DataShield provides secure document and media destruction services with mobile shredding capabilities, serving commercial customers with compliance-driven needs. Comparable to C.O.P.S. in core service offering (on-site shredding, NAID-equivalent certification, Certificate of Destruction), though typically serving a different geographic region.
• Royal Document Destruction: Royal Document Destruction is a regional mobile shredding operator offering on-site document and hard drive destruction services with recurring and one-time service options. Closely comparable to C.O.P.S. in service model, customer mix (commercial and residential), and reliance on NAID-style compliance credentials.

Regional players

• Shred Station: Shred Station is a UK-based on-site shredding operator providing mobile document and media destruction services with comparable service model and certifications. Similar to C.O.P.S. in core offerings and customer types (commercial, residential, media destruction), but operates exclusively in the United Kingdom rather than Illinois.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Midwestfiber

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about C.O.P.S.