The Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA) in New Jersey has taken over trash collection for the City of Vineland, bringing on 11 new compressed natural gas (CNG) trash trucks, which entered into service on January 1.
ACUA purchased the 11 CNG vehicles, and they’ll be dedicated for use in Vineland, according to a release from the authority. The vehicles will be stationed and maintained at the Cumberland County Improvement Authority (CCIA).
ACUA President Richard S. Dovey, Vineland City Council President Paul Spinelli, and CCIA Executive Director Gerard Velazquez were at the Jesse Bridge Road site for the arrival of the vehicles, which were presented to the community last week.
Cumberland's own CNG station will be ready by February, but ACUA will be using other close-by stations until then.
ACUA has experience in operating CNG powered fleet.
In October 2010, they opened the first compressed natural gas station in South Jersey built and operated by Clean Energy Fuels. As a member of the NJ Clean Cities Coalition, they were awarded $2 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to offset the cost of constructing the fueling station and purchasing new CNG vehicles.
Currently, 50% of of their fleet is CNG and they are in the process of converting their entire fleet from biodiesel to CNG.
Since making the switch to CNG, the fleet has displaced more than 675,000 diesel gallons, saved more than $688,000 in fuel costs and reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by over 1,817 metric tons. Currently savings in fuel costs exceed 25%.