San Mateo County Facilities The recycling program for county employees Confidential Records Many County facilities generate paper that contains private information. This material is handled differently than mixed paper recycling due to its confidential nature and HIPPA regulations. If your office generates confidential records, you should already have special bins to collect the records for shredding. Once shredded, this material gets recycled.

Only Shred Confidential Documents

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