Waste processing plant in Kistarcsa exposed its workers to carcinogens

In the town of Kistarcsa, near Budapest, a waste disposal site has been operating for ten years, processing waste from a battery factory. A government office decision issued in April found serious violations: carcinogenic substances (nickel, cobalt, manganese) were detected at the site at levels above the limit, and the exhaust systems were not functioning properly. This resulted in a fine of 16.2 million HUFs (43,6 thousand EURs) for seriously endangering nine workers.

A 20-point report published by the local government office lists the occupational safety violations by the companies (Éltex Kft., and since 2025, ALTEO Circular Kft.) that operate the Kistarcsa waste disposal site.

The Pest County Government Office conducted official inspections at plant last December and again this February. During the inspections, it was determined that

“due to the employer’s negligence, the requirements for safe working conditions that do not endanger health were not met at the inspected workplace,”

and that the company seriously endangered the health and physical safety of nine employees. As a result, the company was ordered to pay a fine of 16.2 million forints and to remedy the occupational safety deficiencies.

According to the government office, in several work areas where battery waste was being processed, the concentration of the air pollutants tested (cobalt, nickel) exceeded the permissible limit. ALTEO reported increased exposure for several workers but subsequently failed to conduct priority biological monitoring tests on the employees, thereby seriously endangering them. There was also a case where the company failed to submit to the authorities the examination results and laboratory findings for workers exposed to carcinogenic substances.

Nickel, cobalt, and manganese levels above the limit

The verdict reveals that the ventilation systems were not functioning properly; for example, according to the results of workplace air pollution measurements conducted on March 9, “limit values were exceeded for nickel, manganese, and cobalt for all employees (4 people), and for respirable dust for three employees.”

However, it was not only the inadequacy of the exhaust systems that could have caused concentrations of carcinogenic substances to exceed the limit values. According to the decision:

“Black powder was stored in open barrels and left exposed on top of barrels on the plant premises.

The hall is used to grind cathodes, so the powder contains carcinogenic substances.”

Barrels piled up next to the fence at the Kistarcsa site. (Source: Facebook)

Additionally, the authority lists other violations: for example, barrels were stacked “in a manner posing a risk of tipping” between the halls, unidentified chemicals were stored in the halls, the technical protection of certain machines and electrical wiring was inadequate, and ALTEO also failed to ensure that workplace and carcinogenic risk assessments were prepared in accordance with legal requirements.

Regarding the amount of the penalty, the authority states that it could not identify any mitigating factors and considered it an aggravating circumstance that the exceedance of the limit values for pathogenic factors exceeded 20%.

The former owner, Éltex Kft., also received several fines

Residents living near the site filed a complaint with the authorities about barrels and plastic containers stored and piled up outdoors, which were also marked as hazardous waste. As reported by the news site Telex, authorities and ALTEO claimed at the time that everything was stored in accordance with legal regulations. However, this is contradicted by the government office’s verdict, which states that barrels were piled up outdoors in a manner posing an accident hazard, and that carcinogenic black powder was stored in open barrels on the plant premises.

In July 2025, ALTEO Energiaszolgáltató Nyrt. announced that it had become the sole owner of “one of the leading domestic waste management companies,” Éltex Kft. Átlátszó has reported regularly on the improper handling of battery waste at Éltex’s sites, the company was fined several times.

For example, the company reclassified hazardous waste as non-hazardous

while transporting it into from Kistarcsa to another one of their sites at Mocsa (north-west Hungary). Éltex also transported waste from Samsung’s battery factory in Göd to Kistarcsa – Éltex previously managed waste at the Samsung plant, before handing the task over to ALTEO.

As we reported in 2023, the CEO of Éltex previously stated during a public tour of the Kistarcsa facility that no battery processing takes place there: “We do not utilize the raw materials contained within them; rather, we renew batteries themselves as single units.”

However, according to a June 2023 permit amendment, the Kistarcsa plant was also allowed to shred battery waste containing heavy metals. This releases a carcinogenic mixture of NMC (lithium-nickel-manganese-cobalt) and graphite. The plant also recycles cathode sludge from battery factories, which contains a mixture of cobalt, nickel, manganese, and lithium oxides as well as an organic solvent (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone).

Despite handling hazardous materials, the authorities did not require the Kistarcsa plant to acquire an environmental permit, just as they did not require one for the SungEel battery processing plant in nearby Szigetszentmikós.