The Debrecen battery plant of Chinese battery manufacturer CATL has been fined HUF 10 million for violating several provisions of its integrated environmental permit, Zsolt Tárkányi, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Ministry of Transport and Investment and MP for Hajdú-Bihar’s 1st constituency, said on Facebook on Monday.
Tárkányi recalled that authorities had been instructed to carry out the strictest possible inspections of all battery plants, saying that such facilities had previously “repeatedly, systematically and obviously deliberately” disregarded regulations.
An inspection by the environmental authority found several violations of the requirements set out in CATL’s integrated environmental permit.
The inspection found, among other things, that waste stored inside the facility was not labelled according to its type or category. Some waste packaging and collection containers had labels only in a foreign language. Without proper labelling, inspectors could not establish with certainty whether the containers used for collecting specific types of waste were suitable for the nature of the waste.
Inspectors also found that some designated industrial waste collection areas had no signs or labels identifying them as waste collection sites.
The inspection further revealed that, due to the lack of proper labelling, different types of waste were being collected together based on their physical appearance. The environmental authority also found no markings indicating the hazardous nature of the waste stored inside the building.
Access to the building was unrestricted, meaning that the facility was not properly secured and unauthorised persons could enter at any time.
According to a person interviewed as a witness during the inspection, the facility also did not have an operating log. The records presented to the authorities failed to meet the legal content requirements, including information on when waste was placed at and removed from the industrial waste collection sites.
Tárkányi said the authority repeated the spot inspection one month later and found that everything was in order, which he said showed that the stricter enforcement had achieved its purpose.
However, CATL was still fined HUF 10 million so that the company would “remember how to operate in compliance with the rules,” Tárkányi said.
The state secretary added that, fortunately, no poisoning or environmental pollution occurred in this case. However, he warned that battery plants can expect further strict inspections and fines until they comply fully with all applicable regulations.
Tárkányi also noted that 30 percent of the fine, or HUF 3 million, will go to the Debrecen municipal government. He called on the city leadership to spend the money on nature conservation, for example on the rehabilitation of the deteriorating Nagyerdő forest.
(MTI)
