Reisig’s Algebraic Petri nets are highly expressive but rarely based on a strict algebraic framework. We present an effective translation using the declarative language Maude, which employs rewriting semantics. By exploring two definitions, we tackle modeling challenges from Maude’s pattern-matching operational semantics. We demonstrate the advantages of using rewritable terms as active tokens, as supported by Maude, with examples including an adaptive Multilevel Feedback Queue scheduling.