North Jersey Media Group (NJMG), the owner of the printing facility used by Greater Media Newspapers’ 10 weekly publications, has announced a heightened commitment to green energy with the installation this year of a 20,400-panel solar facility at its printing and packaging plant in Morris County.
Ben S. Cannizzaro, general manager and publisher of Greater Media Newspapers, Freehold Township, said Greater Media is pleased to be a part of this environmentally conscious project.
“One of the reasons we chose North Jersey MediaGroup as ourprinting partner was its commitment to green technology,” Cannizzaro said.
“We shut down our own Greater Jersey Press in East Brunswick in 2007,” he continued, “because itwas an antiquated facility. We were concerned about waste in newsprint and energy.
“Moving to North Jersey Media Group’s Rockaway plant has enabled us to reduce waste and energy consumption. With the addition of the solar facility, energy use will be reduced even further.”
North Jersey Media Group, with headquarters in Woodland Park, has partnered with KDC Solar, of Bedminster, to create one of the state’s largest solar facilities, which when operational will generate approximately 4.2 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually for its printing and packaging facility in Rockaway Township. This load is equivalent to powering 600 houses for a year. The solar facility will have 20,400 panels, according to a statement from NJMG.
NJMG, which is best known for its flagship paper The Record, built its printing facility in Rockaway Township in 1991 with an expansion in 2006. The 350,000-square-foot facility boasts a WIFAG press — the industry’s latest technology for speed and color capacity.
Stephen Borg, president of North Jersey Media Group, said, “We already buy newsprint with the highest recycled content available from our supplier, and this same supplier has zero-percent deforestation, meaning there is no loss in trees. We use soy-based inks. This solar effort is the next big step. We used all the space available to install this solar facility including erecting carports with panels on top. The end result is that almost 50 percent of our electricity needs will be met through the sun.”
Construction is scheduled to start early this year, with the objective that the project be operational by year’s end, according to NJMG.
KDC Solar CEO Hal Kamine said, “We are excited about the opportunity to team with North Jersey Media Group and bring additional environmental benefits to its Rockaway operations. The solar facility at the Rockaway plant is a wonderful result of the policies New Jersey has created for solar energy. The installation will deliver long-term, low-cost energy.”
Greater Media Newspapers is a division of Greater Media Inc., Braintree, Mass., which also owns 23 AM and FM radio stations in Boston, Charlotte, Detroit, New Jersey and Philadelphia as well as several telecommunications towers.