The logistical challenges of managing hazardous waste from the battery industry in Hungary

Abstract

Thanks to its ‘Opening to the East’ industrial policy, launched in 2016, Hungary has grown to become Europe’s fourth-largest manufacturer of lithium-ion cells. Through this explosive industrial expansion, comprising 44 priority investments, the country’s production capacity could exceed 200 GWh by 2030. However, the volume of hazardous waste generated is increasing in direct proportion to production volumes. Due to the high scrap rate and the significant specific environmental impact of battery production, tens of thousands of tonnes of toxic, flammable and explosive by-products require professional handling, storage and disposal each year. By analysing primary regulatory data and domestic case studies (Göd, Komárom, Szigetszentmiklós, Abasár, Iklad), this article highlights that current domestic reverse logistics practices are ad hoc in nature, the regulatory environment is highly fragmented, and regulatory action is often inconsistent. To ensure sustainable and safe operations, the article proposes the introduction of a new, Seveso-compliant, multimodal and digitised inverse logistics methodology, which fully integrates the requirements of Regulations (EU) 2023/1542 [1] and (EU) 2024/1157 [2].