Municipal Waste Processing Powered by Wind, Solar and Composting: Putting It All Together for a Sustainable Future

The Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA) is proud to responsibly manage waste from Atlantic County, NJ by incorporating renewable energy and alternative fuels into daily operation. Learn how ACUA operates a state-of-the-art landfill located at the Environmental Park in Egg Harbor Township. This site also has a recycling center, vegetative compost facility, community garden, greenhouse, and native plant garden that is open to the public. In Atlantic City, ACUA operates a Wastewater Treatment Facility that processes nearly 29 million gallons of water daily, powered by renewable energy from wind turbines and solar panels. As an environmental leader, ACUA is committed to using new technologies, ideas, and innovations to continue managing waste for years to come. To see the presentation, click on the screen below.

Join Matt DeNafo as he takes us on a whirlwind tour of Atlantic County’s advanced waste processing operations, including landfill management and natural gas harvesting, compost processing and its return to use for the community, recycling, waste water treatment that is at last safe for discharge into the ocean as well as innovative solids processing. He also drives us through Atlantic County’s use of a combination of renewable or cleaner technologies to support their diverse fleet of heavy and light trucks. Finally, Matt shares Atlantic County’s initiatives for the future, including an innovative use of wind energy to both generate green hydrogen and harvest the accompanying oxygen to reduce the energy in the wastewater aeration process.

Matthew DeNafo is the Vice President of Centralized Maintenance and Asset Management at the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA). Mr. DeNafo joined the organization in 2007 as an Associate Engineer and was promoted to Senior Engineer in 2011.

In his current role at the Authority, DeNafo is responsible for managing Centralized Maintenance and Asset Management for all divisions of the Authority. This includes asset selection and procurement, repairs, maintenance, research & development, MIS and external shared services. He provides strategic and tactical leadership, in addition to assisting with project development and management, while overseeing a staff of over fifty employees. 

DeNafo graduated from the Rowan University College of Engineering with a degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering in 2006, and earned a Master’s in Environmental Engineering from Rowan in 2007. He also holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Rutgers University, which he completed in 2018. 

DeNafo is a New Jersey Licensed Professional Engineer and a Certified Municipal Engineer. He is a board member of the Solid Waste Association of North America’s New Jersey Chapter (SWANA NJ), Vice President of the Waterford Township Board of Education and sits on the Advisory Board for the Atlantic County Institute of Technology (ACIT).  DeNafo is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), New Jersey Water Environmental Association (NJWEA) and the American Public Works Association.