The heterogeneous composition as well as the wide-ranging particle size distribution of mixed municipal and commercial waste used as input poses a major challenge in mechanical waste treatment. Individual aggregates and waste treatment plants in general must be able to deal with these special features. Due to different designs and setting options for the same function of certain aggregates from different manufacturers, differences have arisen with regard to machine performance and also with regard to the characteristics of the output material. The shredders of the input material are of particular importance. Usually these machines are placed at the front position in a mechanical treatment plant and the efficiency of following units such as conveyors, sieves, air classifiers or sorters are influenced by them. An evaluation method that has allowed the comparison of different machine settings on the one hand and a comparison of machines from different manufacturers under correspondingly similar framework and operational conditions on the other hand would considerably simplify the optimisation of the overall process and enable possible further developments. In this thesis, a first approach for the development of an evaluation method for the machine performance of shredders is investigated and described. Two shredding units from different manufacturers were used to carry out large-scale tests with defined standard materials. Five samples per machine were taken to evaluate the shredding behaviour of the individual materials. Screening and sorting analyses were used to characterise the shredded input materials of waste wood, waste paper and a mixture of these two fractions. When comparing the pure materials with the respective fraction from the mixture, information is provided as to whether and how the comminution behavior changes in mixed samples. Basically, it can be seen that waste wood is accumulated in the fine to medium range and the waste paper in the coarser range. The evaluation does not show any mutual influence of the fractions in the mixture, but further test series with other input materials will be required in order to describe the shredding behaviour and possible interactions of the individual fractions in the shredder more precisely.