Debrecen4U February 5, 2026

EcoPro Receives Industrial Safety Permit, Investment Enters a New Phase

In 2025, EcoPro BM Hungary established the conditions for protection against major accidents involving hazardous materials and for safe working practices, completing the authorization process for an industrial safety operation permit by the end of the year, as announced by the company.

Trial production is already underway and the company is prepared to begin mass production. Local production not only increases price competitiveness but also complies with the EU regulation on critical raw materials (CRMA), which mandates the development of supply chains within Europe, they add.

The South Korean company’s investment in Hungary is a milestone in EcoPro’s history: the first European manufacturing base has been completed in the Southern Economic Zone of Debrecen, producing cathode materials required for lithium-ion batteries.

The plant covers an area of 44 hectares and houses three technological units:
• EcoPro BM – cathode material production
• EcoPro Innovation – lithium processing
• EcoPro AP – industrial oxygen and nitrogen production

The facility’s annual production capacity is 54,000 tons, sufficient to supply approximately 600,000 electric vehicles. According to plans, this figure will be expanded to 108,000 tons in the future.

The current Debrecen workforce of nearly 250 employees will continue to grow in the coming months in line with the ramp-up of production, and the company intends to carry out the expansion primarily by recruiting Hungarian professionals.

According to the statement, one of the most important features of the Debrecen plant is the automated production process, which simultaneously guarantees safety, quality, and environmental protection. Raw material handling, mixing, and drying operations take place in a fully automated, predominantly closed system, thereby ensuring emissions of external contaminants and hazardous substances remain below regulatory limits and preventing the contamination of environmental elements.

At the facility, the most advanced technologies have been installed to capture and separate generated gases and dust. The systems and protocols applied at the plant serve to protect employees, the local population, and neighboring facilities, while all processes are subject to strict monitoring in order to safeguard the surrounding ecosystem, they state.

As they write, environmental protection is one of the fundamental pillars of EcoPro’s operations: during the design and operation of the facility, all procedures were developed to ensure a minimal ecological footprint. The handling and use of hazardous materials are carried out using the most advanced safety and monitoring solutions, while energy consumption is continuously optimized. EcoPro not only complies with European environmental regulations but also applies its own internal requirement and control systems—often more stringent—thus ensuring that the plant operates in an exemplary manner by European standards, while product purity and quality remain world-class, they emphasize.

EcoPro BM Hungary has also actively joined one of Debrecen’s most important cultural events, the Debrecen Advent, where it made the festive atmosphere even more special with the EcoPro Light Park.

This January, the company also appeared as a sponsor of the Debrecen Ball 2026, thereby supporting the event’s charitable objective: the modernization of the lighting and heating systems of the Great Reformed Church of Debrecen.

Source and photo credit: dehir.hu