Battery Collection is Effort to Recycle

In an effort to make the earth a little greener, AAA Central Penn participated in the Great Battery Roundup.

Events were held in April and May at the Gettysburg, Lebanon, Progress Avenue, Harrisburg, Estelle Drive, Lancaster, and Lewistown branches, according to Tom Butz, Fleet Services manager of AAA Central Penn.

Individuals who brought in spent vehicle batteries each received a $5 coupon for use at the Travel Store or toward membership dues.

AAA Central Penn also donated $5 for each collected battery to the Central Penn Animal Alliance, to help the organization that assists animals in the area.

"The Great Battery Roundup is a national program AAA holds in conjunction with Earth Day because not all batteries are recycled properly and almost all components of a battery can be recycled including the electrolyte" (the liquid in a battery), Butz said.

Each year more than 100 million automotive lead-acid batteries are sold in the United States. It is estimated some 5 million batteries are not recycled each year. This year AAA clubs across the country collected and recycled more than 2 million batteries. An automotive battery, also referred to as a lead-acid battery, is a wet-cell battery, which contains about 21 pounds of lead, three pounds of plastic and one gallon of sulfuric acid. The lead-acid battery industry was an early innovator of "closed loop" recycling and remains a leader in this efficient, economical process. Closed loop recycling reclaims the materials from spent products and uses the reclaimed materials in production.

When a battery is recycled, here’s what happens to all three materials:

• At least 97 percent of the lead can be reclaimed and used to manufacture a new battery. The lead is recycled and reused indefinitely.

• The sulfuric acid can be neutralized, purified and tested before being released as clean water, or it can be converted to sodium sulfate, a product used in fertilizer, dyes and other products.

• Most battery cases are black because they have been made from plastic recycled from spent battery cases. When various colors are melted together, they become black.

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