Affordable Shred

What Affordable Shred does

Affordable Shred is a privately held, family-owned mobile document and electronics destruction services company headquartered in Springfield, Illinois, founded in 2003 by Rick Weekly after he spun off the shredding division from his father's recycling business. The company serves both commercial and residential customers across 25+ cities in Central Illinois (plus Hannibal, Missouri), offering on-site mobile shredding, hard drive and electronics destruction, media and product destruction, secure container loaners, employee information security training, and HIPAA compliance support.

The company's core technology consists of mobile shredding trucks equipped with mounted cameras and on-board monitors that allow customers to witness the shredding process in real time, complemented by a grinder truck capable of destroying whole computers, hard drives, flash drives, copiers, smartphones, and credit card machines. Hard drive and electronics destruction is supported by a handheld serial-number scanner that produces asset disposition records for compliance documentation, and free locking shred containers (32-, 64-, and 96-gallon sizes, plus deskside options) are loaned to routine customers. The firm holds NAID AAA certification, BBB accreditation, CSDS accreditation, and PCI DSS compliance, and key personnel carry Certified HIPAA Professional and Certified Secure Destruction Specialist designations.

Affordable Shred operates a hybrid go-to-market combining direct mobile on-site service via company trucks with a channel partner network of six independent drop-off locations (e.g., CDS Office Technologies, Box & Go, Minuteman Press) that charge 40-50 cents per pound. Pricing for mobile work is quote-based, with complimentary on-site consultations, and HIPAA UP! Lunch and Learn seminars and free community shred events co-hosted with Marine Bank, churches, and other local partners drive top-of-funnel demand and word-of-mouth referrals. The company has grown monthly throughput from 5,000 lbs at founding to over 125,000 lbs and operates with a small team (1-10 employees) led by Rick Weekly (Owner), Tom Schreyer (Customer Service / HIPAA Compliance), and Zach Elmore (Customer Service).

Name

Affordable Shred

Legal name

Affordable Shred

Website

https://affordableshred.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Affordable Shred is a family-owned, NAID AAA-certified mobile document and electronics destruction company in Springfield, Illinois, serving commercial and residential customers across 25+ Central Illinois cities with on-site shredding, HIPAA training, and drop-off partner locations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Secure Document Destruction Services

NAICS

Solid Waste Collection (562111)

SIC

Refuse Systems (4953)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industries

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

Keywords

• Mobile document shredding
• Electronics destruction services
• Hard drive shredding
• HIPAA compliance training
• Secure shred containers

Headquarters

HQ city

Buffalo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Mobile Shredding Services: On-site document shredding service where the mobile truck travels to customer locations. Pricing is quote-based, not publicly disclosed.
2. Drop-off Shredding: Customers can drop off materials at independent certified locations for shredding, priced per pound (50c/lb at some locations)
3. Employee Training Services: HIPAA compliance training and information security training for employees. Routine customers receive one free training session.
4. Electronics Destruction: Destruction of hard drives, electronics, media, and product destruction services
5. Container Rental: Provides secure shred containers on loan to routine business customers for ongoing document collection

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Affordable Shred provides mobile on-site paper shredding, hard drive and electronics destruction, and media and product destruction services across Central Illinois. The company emphasizes customer-verifiable destruction through camera-monitored mobile trucks and supports businesses with HIPAA compliance training, secure shred containers, and a network of independent drop-off locations.

Product overview

Affordable Shred operates as a document and data destruction service company offering a portfolio of mobile, on-site shredding solutions. The core offering is Mobile Shredding, supported by complementary Hard Drive/Electronics Destruction for electronic media and Media/Product Destruction for items like x-rays and credit cards. Additional value-added services include Customer Employee Training and Medical/HIPAA Support for compliance requirements, along with Secure Shred Containers available as free loaners for routine customers. The company also maintains a network of independent Drop-off Locations across Central Illinois for customer convenience. All services emphasize on-site destruction with customer verification via monitoring.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mobile Shredding

Quantifiable outcome

• Processing capacity grew from 5,000 to 125,000+ lbs per month since company inception
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 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

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Davis Fulton Bartonville ChapelminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 April 2019Church location hosts free community shred events open to the public.
• Marine BankcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 April 2019Marine Bank hosts free shred events at their branch locations (Normal, Springfield West Branch). Events benefit community and often pair with food drives for Central Illinois Foodbank. Rain or shine events open to the public.
• Central Illinois FoodbankminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 April 2019Marine Bank shred events include food drive component benefiting the Central Illinois Foodbank with voluntary donations accepted.
• St John's Lutheran ChurchminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 May 2016Church hosts free community shred events to benefit youth group and Habitat for Humanity.
• Thrivent FinancialminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 May 2016Thrivent Financial co-sponsors free shred events at community locations.
• First National Bank JacksonvilleminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 May 2016First National Bank hosts annual Customer Appreciation Day with free shredding by Affordable Shred at their Morton and Massey branch locations in Jacksonville.
• CDS Office TechnologiesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIndependent drop-off location in Springfield East (612 South Dirksen Pkwy). Open Mon-Fri 8AM-5PM. Charges 50c/lb for shredding services.
• Box & GominorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIndependent drop-off location in Springfield West (3309 Robbins Rd, Mariah's). Open Mon-Fri 8AM-6PM, Sat 9AM-2PM.
• Minuteman PressminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIndependent drop-off location in Champaign (905 S Neil St). Open Mon-Fri 9AM-5:30PM. Charges 40c/lb for shredding services.
• Copy Pack & PostminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIndependent drop-off location in Macomb (34 West Side Square).
• 1 Stop Copy ShopminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIndependent drop-off location in Mattoon (701 N.22nd St).
• WrapPackShipCenterminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIndependent drop-off location in Taylorville (208 S Spresser St).

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Iron Mountain: Iron Mountain offers secure shredding, IT asset disposition, and records management globally across regulated industries. It is a broadly comparable incumbent in the secure information destruction space, with much larger scale and broader geographic reach than Affordable Shred.
• Access Information Management: Access provides secure records storage, document shredding, and digital transformation services to mid-market and enterprise customers. Comparable to Affordable Shred's document shredding and recurring container service, with a broader portfolio of records management offerings.
• Cintas Records Management: Cintas offers secure document shredding and records management as part of a broader business services portfolio including uniform and facility services. A broad incumbent that competes with Affordable Shred on document destruction contracts within an enterprise-wide services bundle.
• Stericycle / Shred-it: Stericycle acquired Shred-it to form the largest North American secure information destruction provider, offering on-site mobile shredding, ITAD, and compliance services. Comparable to Affordable Shred across every core service line, but operating at national scale with enterprise-grade compliance and route density.

Direct peers

• Royal Document Destruction: Royal Document Destruction is a regional on-site mobile shredding provider serving the Midwest with NAID AAA-certified secure destruction. Comparable to Affordable Shred as a Midwest-focused mobile shredding operator with similar service model and customer base.
• DataShield: DataShield offers NAID-certified mobile and drop-off document and hard drive destruction, with HIPAA and PCI compliance training support. Direct peer to Affordable Shred on the same mobile shredding-plus-compliance-training positioning.
• PROSHRED Security: PROSHRED is a mobile on-site document and media destruction company with NAID AAA certification and operations across multiple U.S. states and Canada. It is a direct comparable to Affordable Shred, sharing the same mobile shredding truck model, NAID certification, and HIPAA-adjacent compliance positioning.
• Corodata: Corodata provides secure document shredding, records storage, and media destruction to businesses in the western U.S. Comparable to Affordable Shred in document destruction services and recurring container pickup, though concentrated in a different region.
• Shred Station USA: Shred Station USA provides mobile on-site document destruction, hard drive destruction, and product destruction with NAID-style compliance. Directly comparable to Affordable Shred across the same service portfolio.

Regional players

• Blue Line Document Destruction: Blue Line Document Destruction is a Midwest mobile shredding operator offering on-site document and electronics destruction to commercial customers. Regional player comparable to Affordable Shred's Central Illinois service model in a different midwestern geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/AffordableShred
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/affordableshred

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

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 Affordable Shred