|
|
| FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ANY OF THE PRESS RELEASES BELOW, PLEASE CONTACT: |
| Tom Crosby - (W) 704-569-7733 (H) 704-542-4550 (C) 704-649-9377 |
| Brendan Byrnes - (W) 704-569-7768 (C) 919-270-7405 |
| Thursday, April 12, 2007 |
| Got an old car battery lying around? Now’s your chance to dispose of it properly, help the environment and get paid for doing so. Eighty-six AAA Carolinas-owned or affiliated vehicle repair facilities throughout North and South Carolina will provide a free battery check and pay motorists $1 for each potentially poisonous dead or unused vehicle battery they bring into the facility April 16-21. AAA Carolinas members and others have turned in more than 4,000 batteries since the Great Battery Roundup started in 2001. David Blight, manager of Automotive Services at AAA Carolinas, said he’d love to see 2007 turn into a record year for battery disposal. “The more we take in, the more we keep out of landfills, and the better off everyone is,” Blight said. “We’ll gladly pay for as many as we can get.” Nationwide, more than 56,000 batteries have been rounded up since 2001. As part of AAA Carolinas’ celebration of Earth Day (April 22), there will be no fee charged by any of the 54 North Carolina or the 32 South Carolina AAA-related facilities when they accept the battery; instead AAA will pay $1 for each battery you bring in. Usually a fee up to $5 is charged by repair facilities accepting a dead battery. The fee is often refunded if a new battery is purchased. Consumers should wear gloves and safety glasses when handling batteries, keep them upright and place them in a sturdy box or plastic container when transporting them for recycling. If the battery case is cracked or leaking, it should be handled with caution and put in a leak-proof container. Never expose batteries to an open flame or smoke near a battery. More than 101 million lead-acid batteries are sold each year in the United States. A large number of batteries are illegally disposed of in dumps and water sources or simply sit in the corner of someone’s garage where they can contaminate soil and groundwater with lead and sulfuric acid or explode in a fire. Several years ago, one member brought in a stash of batteries that her late husband had kept in the garage. “She was really glad to get rid of all those batteries,” Blight said. “And she didn’t want to take the money. She just wanted to donate the money to charity.” The average car battery is filled with 21 pounds of lead, one gallon of sulfuric acid, and weighs an average of about 30 pounds. AAA warns that acid escaping through cracks can cause painful injuries to curious children or animals. Leaking lead eventually seeps into the ground, polluting the soil. “We hope AAA’s Great Battery Roundup will discourage illegal dumping and encourage recycling,” said Fred Bayha, AAA Carolinas field representative and battery specialist. “Almost 99 percent of the battery is recyclable, so most of it can be used again once the sulfuric acid is disposed of in the proper way.” The AAA Carolinas Great Battery Roundup, with partners Club Assist and Exide Corp., is designed as a one-week reminder to motorists to locate stray automotive or marine lead-acid batteries and transport them to a recycling plant or AAA Carolinas’ related vehicle repair facilities. In addition to helping clean the environment, the facilities will perform free, scheduled, vehicle battery checkups for participants dropping off batteries for recycling. An affiliate of the American Automobile Association, AAA Carolinas was founded in 1922 as a not-for-profit organization that now serves more than 1.4 million members with travel, automobile and insurance and services and is an advocate for the safety and security of all travelers. |
North Carolinabatterylocations.pdf
306-South Carolinabatterylocations2.pdf
|
|
|
