Semcorp Hungary’s Debrecen battery foil plant remains idle amid contamination probe and legal battles

On 24 June the Hajdú-Bihar County Government Office ordered the shutdown of Semcorp Hungary’s Debrecen separator-film plant, citing soil samples with metal levels far exceeding permitted thresholds, notably for aluminium. The samples were taken in March by an accredited lab, HL-LAB, which sent the raw data to Semcorp only in mid-May, causing a delay that resulted in a fine for the company. Semcorp argues that the original analysis mistakenly measured total metal content instead of excess over natural background, and the lab has withdrawn its original reports.

Since the suspension, Semcorp has commissioned four additional laboratories, whose results do not support the earlier conclusions. The firm appealed the suspension on 9 July, challenged a 30 million-forint environmental penalty on 2 September, and lodged a court claim against the remediation order on 4 September, which also referenced the withdrawn lab report. The legal dispute proceeds on three fronts: a court decision on remediation, and two administrative reviews by the Ministry of Environment’s environmental authority. Production can only restart after the ministry approves a final fact-finding report and fire-safety conditions are met.