With landfill closure on horizon, ACUA explores waste-conversion technology
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — With the Atlantic County Utilities Authority landfill set to close in the next few years, officials are searching for a new way to handle waste, particularly through emerging “waste conversion” technologies.
Among the new technologies available are processes that can convert the trash into energy either through the combination of electricity and high temperatures in plasma gasification, or a mechanical/biological treatment that sorts the trash, removing recyclables and then converting what remains, either through composting or an anaerobic digestion process that leaves behind a refuse-derived fuel. As part of the process, the refuse that remains can