- Published 2026.11.04 17:24
On-site waste treatment partner obtained new environmental permit last month
Civic group objects citing missing environmental impact assessment and seeks revocation
A civic group in Hungary is demanding the revocation of a newly issued environmental permit for a waste treatment facility inside Samsung SDI's battery plant in Göd, Hungary. The dispute over permits for the battery production base in Hungary continues as the waste treatment issue has emerged after a local court revoked the plant's integrated environmental permit last year.
The local civic group Göd-ÉRT was reported on Nov. 4 to have requested the revocation of the environmental permit obtained on Oct. 9 by ALTEO Circular, a waste treatment company at the Göd plant. ALTEO Circular is a partner that leases space inside the Samsung SDI plant and handles waste pre-treatment such as hazardous chemical treatment and discharging defective battery cells.
Hungarian authorities began reviewing the application in February this year and issued the waste pre-treatment permit to ALTEO Circular last month. The move followed a 2024 revision to local regulations that made a separate environmental protection permit mandatory for sorting and shredding battery waste. However, Göd-ÉRT argued that the waste treatment activity not only violates local building regulations but also that authorities failed to properly assess the cumulative environmental impact of battery production and waste treatment facility operations.
The company and the civic group also differ over the waste treatment method. Samsung SDI has stated that discharging defective battery cells is part of the overall production process, while the civic group is reportedly opposing the in-plant treatment because the plant itself does not have a waste treatment permit. Accordingly, the civic group separately requested the competent government ministry in August to investigate waste management practices.
The waste permit controversy is an extension of the earlier cancellation of the plant's overall environmental permit. The Budapest Környéki Törvényszék ruled on Oct. 7 last year in a lawsuit filed by Göd-ÉRT to revoke the integrated environmental permit that the Pest county government issued to Samsung SDI on Dec. 1, 2023.
At the time, the court pointed out that the county government arbitrarily changed the permit content three times after the civic group's lawsuit was filed regarding Samsung SDI's environmental permit. The court viewed this as a serious violation of regulations guaranteed under administrative procedure law and revoked the permit entirely on procedural grounds before even ruling on the substantive content of the permit.
Civic scrutiny of battery plants' water use and hazardous emissions has recently intensified in Hungary. In addition to Samsung SDI, SK On operates large battery plants in Komárom and Iváncsa, and China's CATL is building a plant in Debrecen, making Hungary a cluster of global battery makers' production bases. These companies are also facing strict verification demands from local groups over environmental impact assessments and pollutant emission limits.
Samsung SDI operates the Göd plant in Hungary as a key battery supply chain for the European market. Hungarian authorities have been strengthening related regulations since 2024, making environmental protection permits mandatory even for small-scale battery production and waste treatment.
※ This article is an AI translation of the Korean original published by Korea Credit News; it was checked by automated quality guards and published by the English edition desk.
