I would think shredding and recycling would be a better solution than burning. Burning in a crematorium would consume natural gas and create ash that would need to be landfilled. Shredding/recycling would be better for the environment, and, I would bet, be less costly.

Also, unless quantities to be destroyed are quite small, burning in this way would be (at least I suspect), slow and laborious. Normally, I destroy several to many hundreds of records boxes at a time. What I have seen of usual crematoria doesn't seem to be intended for this volume.

I do recall a discussion on this list a few years back about burning to destroy, in which a few posters mentioned burning at power plants that burn coal. I think one or more of the utilities mixed paper records in with the coal -- just more fuel to generate electricity.

==================================================
|| Douglas K. King, Records Manager / Freedom of Information Officer
|| Sedgwick County DIO-Records Management Services
|| Sedgwick County Courthouse / 525 N. Main /  Wichita KS 67203
|| 316.660.9846   FAX 316.660.3274   mailto:[log in to unmask]
||  www.sedgwickcounty.org   "Sedgwick County ... working for you"
==================================================

List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance