Nickel found again in the bodies of workers at the battery factory in Bátonyterenye

SungEel Kft.’s Bátonyterenye plant is preparing to expand its battery processing capacity, which has previously been subject to many fines and suspensions by the authorities. Although the company claims that previous deficiencies have been remedied, a laboratory test has shown that workers are still contaminated with nickel at levels above the health limit. Locals protested against the plant’s operation and expansion in early May with a public forum and a petition with thousands of signatures.

In previous articles, we have reported on the scandalous operations of SungEel’s battery processors in Hungary. Then we wrote that if allowed to continue operations, the company would double the capacity of its plants in Szigetszentmiklós and Bátonyterenye.

On 24 April, the Nógrád County Government Office granted an environmental permit for the expansion of the Bátonyterenye plant, which can process 27,400 tonnes of battery waste a year.

SungEel’s plant in Bátonyterenye could double its capacity, according to a permit issued on 24 April 2025.

During the procedure, the mandatory public hearing was conducted in writing, without ‘personal participation’, in line with the practice already routinely followed by the Hungarian authorities. One question received by the authority read:  ‘At SungEel Hitech Hungary Kft., as a company with activities posing a high health risk, how often are employees undergo medical examinations?’ The Authority replied that medical examinations are carried out once a year, the last one being on 30 September 2024. They also stated that “due to the increased exposure to nickel and cobalt”, biological monitoring tests are also carried out annually, with 24 people having taken part on 02.09.2024.

12 people exposed to nickel

However, if workers are under ‘increased exposure’, a control test should have been carried out since September. But this has not been done, workers concerned about the effects of heavy metal pollution told Atlatszo. So some of them had a test carried out in April by a private laboratory, and the results showed that the nickel in the workers’ bodies was above the limit. The workers reported the problem to the company and the county authorities, but they said that no meaningful action had been taken.

Laboratory findings of a worker at the Bátonyterenye plant, showing that the level of nickel in the worker’s body exceeds the reference value.

According to workers, the filtering of various carcinogenic heavy metals from the workplace air is not done properly. We have previously reported that SungEel workers have been exposed to increased levels of carcinogenic heavy metals for years, according to official documents; one of the tests at the plant in Szigetszentszentmiklós found that the concentration of nickel in the air exceeded the limit value by a factor of two thousand.

We contacted the Nógrád County Government Office to find out what action had been taken in response to the complaints received. The authority sent the following reply:

“As a result of the monitoring study, 12 workers were found to have increased exposure to nickel, and none of the tested components exceeded the limit for cobalt (…) The 12 workers underwent an out-of-schedule medical fitness assessment, on the basis of which they were deemed fit for employment.The Department of Employment, Labour Inspection and Labour Protection of the Nógrád County Government Office will carry out inspections at the company if necessary. A follow-up inspection of the decision taken as a result of the 4-day comprehensive on-site inspection carried out in 2024 on the basis of prior notification was carried out by the authority in April 2025. In addition to this inspection, the government agency also investigated, inter alia, the increased workload, an investigation which has not yet been concluded.”

Thousands signed a petition against the plant

In March, independent regional MP Sándor Berki launched a petition against the expansion of the Bátonyterenye plant. The petition was signed by more than 3,600 people, Berki told a public forum organised by him and the mayor of Bátonyterenye on 9 May. The organizers had invited representatives of the government office and SungEel to the event, but they did not attend.

Sándor Berki speaks at the public forum

Sándor Berki said that while there was a great need for new investment and jobs in Nógrád County, they should not be at the expense of the environment and the health of local people. He also pointed out that hazardous waste from battery factories had also been found in other Nógrád sites, such as Salgótarján and Mohora, in addition to the battery factory in Bátonyterenye.

“We don’t take other people’s trash! Let’s first create companies that actually create jobs, and then let’s talk about how to clean up this mess,”

the opposition politician said.

István Orosz, Mayor of Bátonyterenye (Independent), who won the 2024 mayoralty partly because of his opposition to the battery processing scandal, continues to say what he said before the election:

‘SungEel go home!’

The mayor stressed that the company has knowingly violated Hungarian law on several occasions over the past three years and that it is a threat to the environment and the safety of the people living here. Based on our article, he also referred to the fact that 1,000 tonnes of battery waste illegally stored in Abasar for two years was returned to Bátonyterenyi.

According to István Orosz, the plant, which processes tens of thousands of tonnes of waste batteries every year, has no place ‘in the heart of the city’, because its operation poses a serious threat to the population.

The mayor also said that several investigations into previous fatal workplace accidents were still ongoing and that the results could lead to charges being brought and the plant being closed.

However many of the participants in the forum said that more radical action, including civil disobedience, might be necessary if residents are to be protected from the risks posed by the dangerous plant.