BCAA gives Earth Day a jump with its first annual Great Battery Round-up

April 23, 2010

BCAA encourages the public to recognize Earth Day and scour their basements, garages and yards for old batteries in preparation of the “Great Battery Round-up”. From April 27 through May 9, BCAA drivers will collect, at no cost, used lead-acid batteries from across the Lower Mainland and transport them to regulated facilities where they will be recycled into new batteries.

“Used batteries pose health and safety risks because of their lead and sulfuric acid content,” says Ken Cousin, BCAA’s associate vice president of Road Assist. “They are often left sitting in yards or garages where they could leak and contaminate the soil and groundwater, explode and cause a fire, or become a source of lead poisoning to humans and animals.”

Over 97 per cent of lead-acid batteries – typically those used to power cars, trucks, campers, motorcycles, boats and small planes – are recyclable yet, it is estimated that, in Canada over half a million are not recycled annually. “Recycling batteries is an easy, no cost way for people to help protect our environment from extremely hazardous materials,” says Cousin, adding that every automobile battery replaced by BCAA is recycled.

Batteries will be picked up from homes, offices, or any accessible location in the Lower Mainland as far as Abbotsford. To schedule a date for pick up, please call BCAA Emergency Road Assist at 604-293-2222 or visit [Link to bcaa.com/roundup] for more information. For every battery collected, BCAA receives $5 from the recyclers which it will donate to the BCAA Traffic Safety Foundation in support of safe driving and community road safety initiatives.

BCAA advises anyone wanting to recycle their batteries to handle them with caution and follow basic safety procedures:

• Wear protective eyewear and gloves.
• Keep batteries upright and transport them in a sturdy box or plastic container.
• Do not smoke near batteries or expose them to open flames.
• Wash hands thoroughly with soap and water afterwards.