Q&A on the News

Q: Is there a recycling center in or around the Atlanta area that will take household batteries (AA, AAA, 9V, C, D, etc.)?

—Steve Lamb, Hapeville

A: The best place to start is earth911.com, a website recommended by Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful. You can search for single-use batteries with your ZIP code to find spots that recycles batteries near your home. Some Clean & Beautiful organizations also recycle batteries. In addition, Batteries Plus, which has locations around Atlanta, recycles batteries.

Q: When was the first time the government took the Social Security surplus? How much have they taken every year since then, and what is the total amount they’ve taken?

—Joseph Johnson, Alpharetta

A: All revenues from Social Security taxes are distributed to Social Security Trust Funds — the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and the Disability Insurance Trust Funds, Patti Patterson, spokeswoman for the Social Security Administration, told Q&A on the News. "The law requires that these Social Security trust funds be used only to pay Social Security benefits and related administrative expense," she wrote in an e-mail. Patterson noted that Social Security trust fund assets not needed for current benefits are invested in interest-bearing government securities or securities guaranteed by the government. "The federal government must pay a market rate of interest on these investments," she wrote. More information about the Social Security Trust Funds is available at www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT.