AAA Chicago Will Recycle Old Car Batteries in Honor of Earth Day
AURORA, Ill., April 14 -- AAA Chicago will observe Earth Day, April 22, by asking motorists in Illinois and northern Indiana to scour garages, backyards and storage sheds for used lead-acid vehicle batteries, and bring them to local Approved Auto Repair shops for recycling as part of a AAA Battery Service initiative called The Great Battery Roundup.
"The impact of vehicle maintenance on the environment can be an overlooked aspect of responsible vehicle ownership," said AAA Chicago's Senior Vice President of Member and Automotive Services David Bufka. "With an estimated 230 million vehicles on the road in North America, the proper use and disposal of vehicle batteries, tires and various types of automotive fluids are crucial to a healthy environment."
To protect the environment, as well as human health and safety, motorists will be able to bring used automobile and marine lead-acid batteries to any of the club's Approved Auto Repair facilities for recycling.
"Nearly 99 percent of a vehicle battery can be recycled and used again without removing new lead, or other natural resources from the environment," said Bufka. "Unfortunately more than five million vehicle batteries are not returned for recycling each year."
Many of these batteries are illegally disposed of in dumps and water sources, but many more are simply sitting in a forgotten corner of someone's property where they could contaminate soil and ground water, explode in a fire or become a source of lead poisoning to humans and animals.
AAA Chicago requests that consumers wear gloves and safety glasses when handling batteries, keep them upright and place batteries in a sturdy box or plastic container when transporting them for recycling. If the battery case is cracked or leaking, be especially careful to choose a leak-proof container. Do not smoke near or expose the batteries to an open flame, and make certain they will not shift and tip over in a moving vehicle.
In 2002, the AAA Battery Service recycled more than 85,000 batteries in the course of performing this new service. The AAA/CAA Great Battery Roundup, held annually in participating clubs in North America in honor of Earth Day, brought in some 12,000 additional batteries that same year.
To find the nearest Approved Auto Repair facility to recycle your battery, visit www.aaa.com , or call (866) YOUR-AAA. Participating AAR facilities are listed below.
Addison Great Lakes
Automotive 1213 Capital Dr Unit 6 IL
(630) 543-1804
Arlington
Heights Barnes Automotive 1203 E. Rand Rd. IL
(847) 788-0800
Aurora Lens's Automotive
& Tire 989 S Eola Rd. IL
(630) 499-1980
Bartlett Midas 1804 W Army Trail Rd. IL
(630) 372-9811
Berwyn Dynatech 7511 Cermak IL
(708) 442-8951
Bloomington Clay Dooley Tire
& Auto 1507 E. Vernon IL
(309) 662-2886
Bolingbrook GTM Automotive 495 W. Boughton Rd. IL
(630) 759-7300
Buffalo Grove BP Automotive 65 Buffalo Grove Rd. IL
(847) 520-5355
Carol Stream Brandy's
Automotive 565 Fullerton Ave. IL
(630) 653-8485
Carpentersville Midas 20 S. Western Ave. IL
(847) 426-3330
Channahon McCoys Tire
& Auto 25360 W. Eames St. IL
(815) 467-2258
Chicago Car X 10157 S. Western Ave. IL
(773) 233-3178
Chicago Midas 158 W Grand IL
(312) 670-2505
Chicago Midas - Fred
Hoffman 510 W Roosevelt IL
(312) 922-5075
Cicero Roosevelt & Laramie
Service 5147 W Roosevelt IL
(708) 652-6555
Crest Hill Car Care Center
Mechanical
& Towing 1808 N. Larkin Ave. IL
(815) 741-4800
Crystal Lake The Shop 90 East St. IL
(815) 459-2886
Danville Auto Mobile
Diagonostics 410 W. Harrison IL
(217) 443-6161
Decatur Paceley's Garage 3109 N. 22nd Street IL
(217) 875-9229
Dekalb Bockman's Amoco 705 E Lincoln Hwy IL
(815) 756-7413
Des Plaines Busse Marathon 10 W. Golf Rd. IL
(847) 824-6653
Downers Grove Lang Auto 4947 Main St. IL
(630) 968-4626
Downers Grove Joe Madden Ford 2150 W. Ogden Ave. IL
(630) 968-0488
Elgin McLean Marathon 965 N Mclean Blvd. IL
(847) 741-9576
Elk Grove
Village Complete Car Care 1704 Oakton IL
(847) 437-9600
Elkhart T & C Auto 1710 W Beardsley IN
(574) 258-4433
Elmhurst Mehta Motors 463 Spring Rd. IL
(630) 279-0566
Evanston Auto Doctor 1600 Foster St. IL
(847) 491-9600
Fort Wayne Hire's Auto 5809 Illinois Rd. IN
(260) 432-5111
Franklin Park Gary Automotive 1000 E. Green St. IL
(630) 860-2996
Galesburg Bolin's 24 Hour Tow
& Repair 2356 Grand Ave. IL
(309) 343-1558
Gas City Bo's Twin City
Auto Service 621 W Main St. IN
(765) 674-9664
Glen Ellyn Village Garage 841 N. Main St. IL
(630) 469-9700
Glendale Heights Glenside
Marathon 1590 Bloomingdale Rd. IL
(630) 681-7009
Glenview Cars of America 1727 Chestnut Ave. IL
(847) 724-6724
Hammond Auto Masters 6817 Calumet Ave. IN
(219) 931-2702
Hanover Park Midas 1505 W. Irving Park Rd. IL
(630) 830-0500
Harvey Potenzo Auto
Repair 4558 W. 147th St. Midlothian IL
(708) 396-0501
Highland Park D & R
Autoworks 2366 Skokie Valley Rd. IL
(847) 433-4343
Hoffman Estates Higgins
Marathon 1300 W Higgins Rd. IL
(847) 519-0970
Joliet Auto Care
Center 714 W Jefferson St. IL
(815) 722-7766
Lake Station Marathon Towing &
Recovery 2220 Ripley St. IN
(219) 962-4240
Lisle Brandy's
Automotive 2955 Ogden Ave. IL
(630) 527-1300
McHenry Northtown
Automotive 3800 McCullom Lake Rd. IL
(815) 363-2886
Merrillville Exhaust Masters
Car Care 7913 Taft St. IN
(219) 738-1234
Michigan City Ace Auto Service 8707 W U.S. Hwy 20 IN
(219) 874-5655
Mishawaka T & C Auto 1033 W McKinley IN
(574) 258-5545
Moline MC Tire &
Automotive 2119 53rd Street IL
(309) 762-2886
Morton Grove P & E Services 8801 Waukegan Rd. IL
(847) 966-4448
Mount Prospect Busse Automotive 113 E Prospect Ave. IL
(847) 253-1634
Mundelein B & R Auto Care 313 Townline Rd. IL
(847) 837-0553
Naperville Sparks Car Care 24125 W. 111th St. IL
(630) 904-4115
Naperville Certified Auto 425 Industrial Dr. IL
(630) 637-9480
Naperville Davis Automotive
Services 915 E. Ogden Ave. IL
(630) 357-5000
Normal Team Auto 1223 S Adelaide IL
(309) 454-5454
Northlake North Lake
Auto Repair 385 E North Ave. IL
(708) 338-3920
Oak Lawn Spitfire
Automotive 10711 S. Cicero Ave. IL
(708) 425-2500
Oak Park Car X 700 Madison IL
(708) 383-8706
Orland Park Sparks 9276 W 159th St. IL
(708) 460-0460
Palatine Sparks Car Care 1440 N. Rand Rd. IL
(847) 934-1133
Park Ridge McGarry's Auto 300 Busse Hwy IL
(847) 698-2527
Peoria Beachlers Service 3623 University IL
(309) 688-2488
Portage Jim's Amoco 6090 Central Ave. IN
(219) 762-4282
Rockdale Rockdale
Automotive 22 Graham DR. Unit A IL
(815) 725-5039
Rockford Rockford Radiator 2429 S. Alpine Rd. IL
(815) 398-9871
Rolling Meadows Brandy's
Automotive 2785 Algonquin Rd. IL
(847) 222-1234
Schaumburg Schaumburg
Automedics 503 Lunt Ave. IL
(847) 352-2886
Skokie McCormick Auto 8250 N McCormick Blvd. IL
(847) 679-7755
South Bend Veldman's Service
Center 5222 Western Ave. IN
(574) 287-7236
South Elgin Superior Auto
Clinic 605 Sundown IL
(847) 695-0050
Springfield Wilkersons Shell 2000 W. Monroe IL
(217) 787-2296
Streamwood Casey Auto 44 N Barrington Rd. IL
(630) 213-8600
Tinley Park Herman's Auto
Service 7250 W. Duvan Dr. IL
(708) 429-0990
Urbana P.D.R. Automotive
Inc. 1008 N Cunningham Ave. IL
(217) 367-9481
Waukegan Whitmore's
Service Inc. 600 Greenwood Ave. IL
(847) 623-7080
Woodridge Certified
Auto 6809 Hobson Valley Dr. #110 IL
(630) 960-8771
AAA Chicago offers automotive, travel, insurance and financial services. It is part of The Auto Club Group (ACG), the largest affiliation of AAA clubs in the Midwest, with 4.1 million members in eight states. ACG clubs belong to the national AAA federation, a not-for-profit organization, with more than 45 million members in the United States and Canada.