Company slammed with scathing lawsuit following reports of hazardous fires filling city with smoke: 'It is outrageous'

The state of New Jersey is suing a recycling facility over recurring fires, CBS News reported.

What's happening?

New Jersey has a long and strange association with waste management, dating back to the Victorian Era, when the state was designated a dumping ground for New York City's refuse.

EMR Advanced Recycling is a facility in Camden, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia.

Residents in and near Camden have contended with 12 separate fires at the facilities in the past five years, but the impact on them has gone beyond unpleasant odors or merely smoky air.

Last February, "dozens of residents" were forced to evacuate their homes and workplaces due to a six-hour fire that severely degraded air quality. The facility attributed the incident to improper disposal of a lithium-ion battery, according to CBS News.

In 2021, residents were evacuated, and a nearby school had to close when a fire caused "smoke and metallic odors" to permeate the area, putting two civilians and a firefighter in the hospital for smoke inhalation.

Officials in New Jersey sued EMR Advanced Recycling, alleging that the facilities operated unsafely, impeded quality of life, and posed an ongoing public health threat to Camden residents.

On Jan. 12, New Jersey attorney general Matthew Platkin and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette issued a press release announcing the "public nuisance lawsuit" against EMR Advanced Recycling.

"It is outrageous that EMR has failed to correct the dangerous conditions at its facilities in Camden — conditions that have resulted in over a dozen hazardous fires in recent years that threaten the lives and health of Camden residents," Platkin stated. 

Why is this concerning?

EMR's website claimed the company "work[s] hard to provide sustainable materials, reducing reliance on non-renewable materials and diverting waste from landfill[s]."

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Given the nature of the lawsuit, the gap between the firm's eco-friendly pledges and its alleged adverse impact on the local environment could be considered a form of greenwashing, when businesses project an environmentally friendly image to mislead consumers.

Greenwashing is a problem in the recycling space — particularly with plastic — and sustainable packaging claims are another area rife with deceptive claims and practices.

Fires in waste processing facilities and on garbage trucks are also on the rise, in large part due to disposable products with built-in lithium-ion batteries, like disposable vapes.

While improper disposal of dangerous materials is becoming alarmingly commonplace, officials in New Jersey cited unrelated factors, such as "stories-high piles of plastic, glass, dirt, and other discarded material that create a high risk of fires" at the site.

What's being done about it?

New Jersey's lawsuit is one example of local lawmakers holding businesses to account.

"Companies should never be allowed to turn a quick buck at the expense of their communities — but that's exactly what EMR has been doing for years in Camden. It's time to put an end to this unacceptable conduct," Platkin vowed.

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