EnviroShred News

Like many entrepreneurs, Greg Olynyk spent many hours away from his family in order to realize his vision of building his company, EnviroShred, into Alberta's largest independent shredding company in only four years. The dynamic leader competes directly with three global competitors in the market and many smaller operators in the three cities in which the company offers its services: Calgary, Edmonton, and Medicine Hat.
During those four years, Olynyk's leadership has amassed a client list of 1,000 in government, law enforcement, large and small businesses, and individuals who require document destruction services. In 2010, he won the Consumers' Choice Award in Calgary and has experienced tremendous year-over-year growth. Even during the recession in 2009, the company grew by 33 per cent with little employee turnover or client loss.
He plans to double his staff of 13 in the next five years and will continue to support a range of charitable causes, which have included the Calgary Women's Emergency Shelter, Inn From the Cold, various youth sporting clubs, and employees who wanted to participate in the Boston Marathon and motocross racing. Olynyk also recognizes that it is not his efforts alone that helped realize his vision. As he looks to future business leaders, he hopes to pass on what he's learned and share that success with others. "Many obstacles will need to be overcome on the path to success," he says. "Ensure that you have the support of your family and friends and seek out a mentor who has experience in the field that you are in, as experience and good decisions correlate to success."

There's a lot of meaning behind the name. Everything shredded by EnviroShred staff members is recycled and more than 200 tonnes of paper is diverted from landfills each month. Along with recycling materials that are shredded beyond recognition, EnviroShred guarantees confidential papers are destroyed with the highest chain of security from start to finish. Clients receive a Destruction Certificate after the documents are destroyed, whether they choose onsite or offsite services. EnviroShred can provide clients with locked security containers free of charge to ensure the documents are kept confidential until they are destroyed. EnviroShred offers the leading edge technology, tools, and dedicated personalized service necessary to design and implement a document destruction and paper shredding program specific to each client's individual needs.

For Greg Olynyk, the success he has found with EnviroShred is not just about him, but also about his staff and his customers. In 2005, Olynyk and two partners created EnviroShred from the ground up. It is now Alberta's largest independent shredding company.

With its head office in Calgary and another office in Edmonton, all the profits stay in the province. This dynamic, growing company now has more than 2000 clients.

"We want to continue to grow and always improve," says Olynyk, the president of EnviroShred. "As we grow, there is always room to promote people and help develop their careers. We have great employees with very little turnover and that's rewarding."

Although it competes directly with three other global companies, EnviroShred continues to grow because of Olynyk's desire to provide the best service possible to the customers.

"Our service levels are second to none," he says. Personalized service is given to each client, giving them confidentiality, security and peace of mind. When people call the EnviroShred office, they always find a local person on the other end of the line, not a call centre. With its fleet of on-site shredding trucks, EnviroShred offers the most secure, affordable method of document destruction.

With trucks shredding up to 9,000 lbs. an hour, EnviroShred is able to save businesses time and money.
EnviroShred's newest addition to its fleet is the fastest shredding truck in Western Canada. The company has the largest fleet of shredding trucks in the province. Up to 99% of its clientele take advantage of having the document shredders come to them.

"Efficiency is our strength. We have a fast fleet and are able to get the job done quickly," explains Olynyk.
"Our service is typically less costly than if companies have their own shredder and are paying a staff member to shred it themselves."

EnviroShred's clients range in size from a homebased business with one container to large organizations with more than 100 bins. Whether people need them for a one-time job or on a regular basis, EnviroShred will personalize its services for each client. And clients have definitely taken note of the priority EnviroShred staff place on taking care of them and ensuring they are highly satisfied. The company won a Consumer Choice Award in 2010 for Business Excellence and Olynyk was named one of the Leaders of Tomorrow from Business in Calgary magazine in 2010.

EnviroShred supports a number of charitable causes throughout the province, as well as supporting staff members in their personal achievements. Two of the staff members have run the Boston Marathon.