Old License Plates May Now Be Recycled at Lexington County Collection and Recycling Centers

COLUMBIA, SC – August 21, 2008 – Lexington County residents have a license to recycle!

In July, the state began releasing the new sunrise license plates, and many residents have contacted Lexington County Solid Waste Management about disposal of their old plates. The Palmetto license plates are aluminum and can be recycled in the aluminum can collection container at any of the County’s twelve Collection and Recycling Centers. They will only be accepted at the centers, however, and will not be collected in curbside recycling bins.

“In the next year, more than 2 million old license plates will be removed from vehicles in South Carolina, and the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) doesn’t require them to be returned,” says Mary Pat Baldauf, Lexington County recycling coordinator. “We encourage residents to recycle their old plates instead of tossing them in the trash.”

“Every license recycled will have a positive impact on the environment,” says Mary Pat Baldauf, Lexington County’s Recycling Coordinator. “Recycling just one aluminum license plate saves enough energy to keep a 100-watt light bulb burning for almost sixteen hours or run your television for twelve hours.”

Residents outside of Lexington County can return their license plates back to the DMV for recycling.

For additional information on recycling license plates or other recycling issues in Lexington County, please visit www.lex-co.com/solidwaste.html or contact Baldauf at (803) 785-3340.