BMW uses blockchain as proof for use of ‘ethically’ extracted cobalt

BMW has started a pilot in the form of a collaboration with the British company Circulor, in which blockchain technology is used to demonstrate that the cobalt used by BMW for batteries has been extracted without the use of child labour.

The CEO of British company Circulor has confirmed to Reuters that there is a collaboration between his company and BMW on the use of blockchain technology. BMW declined to comment further.

As part of the pilot, Circulor is trying to map out which part of the cobalt has been extracted without child labour. Initially, cobalt will be mapped from Australia, Canada and the industrial production mines in Congo; cobalt from these sources is generally believed to have been extracted in an ethical manner.

As soon as the system proves to be effective and can be expanded, sources will also be included in the system where it is more likely that child labor played a role in the extraction. This mainly concerns the non-industrial, unregulated cobalt mines in Congo, which account for about a fifth of the total cobalt production in Congo.

It is not entirely clear exactly how the blockchain will be deployed in this project, but the idea is that during the pilot a barcode will be linked to cobalt extracted without child labor, with the transaction being recorded in a virtual ledger. According to the CEO of Circulor, this is an effective method of demonstrating that the cobalt is ‘clean’ and can lead to reduced compliance costs for car manufacturers.