AEA is a nonprofit association of publicly owned facilities providing environmental services to the people of the State of New Jersey. The mission of AEA is to assist its members – who treat wastewater, handle solid waste, and supply the public with clean water – to pursue their common goals of protecting and enhancing public health and the natural environment.

AEA serves its members by: educating environmental managers and professionals; Promoting and advancing responsible, competitively efficient, and scientifically backed programs that serve and enhance the public interest, and; Providing information and representing its member's views and concerns to the state's Legislature, regulatory agencies, and the general public.