I yam wot I yam!

Big news story about research which has shown that people are throwing sensitive personal information out with their domestic waste, and about how this could be used to steal their identity. I certainly religiously shred any document which has any sort of reference number connected to me on, but what I can't understand is that it is suggested that you should also shred anything with your name and address on. Why? My name and address is a matter of public record - if you want to know who lives at my address you don't need to rifle through my wheelie-bin, you simply look my address up on the electoral register. If you only have my name and want to know where I live, you need look no further than the telephone directory, so I can't see the point - or have I missed something?