Camden suspends license for EMR Recycling after multiple scrap yard fires

The City of Camden has ordered EMR Recycling to cease operations after more than a dozen scrap yard fires at the facility triggered air pollution concerns in recent years.

The suspension comes less than two weeks after a large fire prompted local officials to call on the Environmental Protection Agency and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to shut down the plant.

Since January, EMR has been at the center of a lawsuit filed by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office and state DEP, which alleges the company created unsafe conditions that affect public health.

Following a massive fire at the scrap yard in February 2025 that led to voluntary evacuations and took more than six hours to contain, EMR committed to investing more than $6 million into the Camden community and waterfront. The company also pledged it would install a fire suppression system that uses heat detection cameras to identify and put out fires before they spread.

EMR unveiled its new $4.5 million fire suppression system in May of this year. If temperatures rise above 225 degrees, automated water cannons activate and target the affected area.

But on May 29, the system failed to initially work when a fire started around 3 a.m. The company said a lithium battery likely caused the fire; a lithium battery was also determined to be responsible for the fire in February 2025.

"Enough is enough," Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen said in the aftermath of the blaze.

"We will not stand idly by while residents are exposed to fires on a regular basis and have to bear the burdens of an operation that clearly cannot function in a safe manner. We will no longer allow shelter in place alerts to go out because of another mishap in this scrap metal operation. Enough is enough," Carstarphen continued in a joint statement with local and state officials.