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Verantwortungsvolles Management

Responsible raw material management.

Verantwortungsvolles Management

Responsible raw material management.

Automotive production uses a large number of mineral and organic raw materials. Upstream from the BMW Group, people working for suppliers can be affected by negative impacts – be they direct suppliers who manufacture components for the BMW Group or, more especially, suppliers who extract and process raw materials. That’s why, at the BMW Group, responsible raw material sourcing is very much a priority. 

The BMW Group supports responsible procurement of raw materials for battery production – such as lithium or nickel – but also of other materials, like aluminium, copper or natural rubber, and we have established preventive measures to mitigate potential risks. We are also involved in various cross-commodity and commodity-specific initiatives aimed at consistently promoting responsible raw material management.

We are fully aware of our responsibility and firmly committed to ensuring compliance with environmental and social standards in our supplier network. These requirements apply to all our suppliers worldwide and are an integral part of the purchasing process, with a special focus on fulfilling corporate due diligence in raw material supply chains.
Joachim Post
Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG for Purchasing and Supplier Network
Joachim Post

Responsible raw material management – an overview.

The BMW Group systematically analyses widely known and typical risks associated with the extraction and processing of raw materials and draws up appropriate measures based on findings. In the following raw material profiles, we outline the work of responsible raw material management at the BMW Group and our commitment to raw material-specific as well as overarching initiatives.

Our approach.

At the BMW Group, responsible sourcing of raw materials stems from our holistic approach, which takes into account business, environmental and social factors. Raw material supply chains are multi-layered, dynamic and globally networked – and highly complex as a result. That’s why we proactively pursue a preventive approach based on the four strands shown below. 

Environmental and social compliance in raw material supply chains.

To ensure environmental and social compliance, the BMW Group has established a multi-stage due diligence process for raw materials. This forms part of our company-wide sustainability and due diligence management system and complies with the OECD requirements for the fulfilment of due diligence. 

Due diligence process for raw material supply chains
Due diligence process for raw material supply chains

Design, international scaling and harmonisation of standards for supply chain certification.

Our involvement in multi-stakeholder initiatives means we actively contribute to shaping standards for the certification of raw material supply chains. Implementing standards in these supply chains, we pursue a raw material and country-specific approach. On the overarching level, we are committed to the international scaling and harmonisation of certification standards with the aim of creating an internationally uniform and accepted basis for the certification of raw material supply chains. We are active in various initiatives including:

What’s the value-add of multi-stakeholder initiatives? 

Regular exchange with stakeholders – such as civil society and other relevant actors in the supply chain – is an important part of dealing with critical raw materials. That’s why the BMW Group prefers to work with initiatives, associations and other federations of various stakeholders that base their work on established multi-stakeholder governance. Multi-stakeholder governance is a practice of formal and essential governance that brings together multiple stakeholders (including civil society as a minimum) for decision-making around project implementation and to confirm project outcomes. 

Responsibility and commitment following the principle of “empowerment before withdrawal”.

In addition, for selected raw materials the BMW Group also works in field projects with project partners and local stakeholders, following the principle of empowerment before withdrawal. At the moment, those materials are: cobalt, lithium, mica and natural rubber. The field projects each follow predefined project goals whose achievement is gauged by a set of key indicators. 

COBALT FOR DEVELOPMENT (C4D)

Cobalt 4 Development

Project goal
To test a process for formalising ASM (artisanal and small-scale mining) and micro-mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Region
Kolwezi, Lualaba Province

Country
DR Congo

Raw material
Cobalt (copper)

Project leader
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Project partners
BASF, Samsung SDI, Samsung Electronics, VW, STIHL

Project launch
March 2019

Planned duration
3+2 years

INTRODUCTION.

People working in ASM extract cobalt ore without adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and under very dangerous and precarious working conditions. The C4D project has developed novel training materials and methods to raise awareness of safety issues, improve occupational health and safety, and promote environmental management. It also aims to bring lasting improvements to the living and working conditions of ASM workers and the surrounding communities. C4D promotes better access to education and alternative livelihoods and helps households increase their savings.

Zielsetzung Cobalt4Development

Region und Herausforderungen Cobalt4Development

The Democratic Republic of Congo has the largest cobalt reserves in the world and is a global leader in cobalt production. Up to 20% of its output is extracted by ASM, which is a major source of income for the region despite the significant risks. Up to 100,000-200,000 Congolese men and women work directly in artisanal cobalt mines. Factoring in the associated ancillary industries such as transportation, trade, restaurants, etc., along with the families of the miners, the number of people depending on ASM rises to more than one million, making it one of the most important livelihoods in the region.

In Lualaba Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, poverty is rife, so ASM offers considerable potential for regional development. If conditions can be improved sufficiently to meet Congolese and international regulations and standards, it could be integrated into global supply chains – with a positive impact on the region and on human rights. ASM entails certain risks in the supply chain, but it also offers significant opportunities to boost regional development. 

Betroffene Gemeinden Cobalt4Development

STRATEGIC GOALS FOR DEVELOPMENT SDG.

RESPONSIBLE LITHIUM PARTNERSHIP.

Lithium Partnership

Project goal
To promote the sustainable use of resources in Salar de Atacama

Region
Salar de Atacama, South America

Country
Chile

Raw material
Lithium

Project leader
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Project partners
Mercedes, VW, BASF, Fairphone

Project launch
November 2021

Planned duration
3+1 years

INTRODUCTION.

The multi-stakeholder roundtable Mesa Multiactor brings together representatives from around 20 organisations from different sectors to develop measures together around responsible lithium sourcing. Their 30-point action plan includes a register of all water rights holders, geological and hydrological mapping, campaigns around water scarcity, the provision of drinking water for local communities and greywater recycling. While some of the measures are already complete, others are still being rolled out. Mesa Multiactor has also reviewed more than 300 studies and reports on the topic of water in the Salar and made them accessible via a public library.

Lithium

Salar de Atacama, Chile, is located in the so-called Lithium Triangle between Chile, Argentina and Bolivia and is one of the driest places in the world. The enormous lithium deposits there are found in what’s known as brines, and the fear is that pumping out freshwater, brackish water and lithium-bearing brine could destabilise the fragile ecosystem, causing lagoons to shift and affect freshwater aquifers. Given the importance of lithium for the battery industry on the one hand and the preservation of drinking water for local communities and ecosystems on the other, this project supports sustainable lithium mining with minimum environmental impact.

In this extremely dry region, water is fundamental to the livelihoods of communities. Current tensions and a general lack of trust between indigenous people and mining companies need to be resolved through a multilateral approach. The only way to address existing uncertainties around environmental issues and (drinking) water is through dialogue, to improve communication between the two sides.

STRATEGIC GOALS FOR DEVELOPMENT SDG.

JOINT APPROACH TO SUSTAINABLE NATURAL RUBBER PRODUCTION.

Naturkautschukproduktion

Project goal
To preserve the natural ecosystem, fight deforestation, improve the local indigenous community’s rights and quality of life, protect endangered species, and ensure natural rubber is traceable and sustainably grown

Region
Island of Sumatra

Country
Indonesia

Raw material
Natural rubber

Project leader
BirdLife International

Project partner
Pirelli

Project launch
October 2021

Planned duration
3 years + 6 months

INTRODUCTION.

Indonesia and Thailand are the largest producers of natural rubber in the world. Most of their output is produced not industrially, but by more than six million small-scale farmers. But because the supply chains are so long and complex, in recent decades the farmers themselves have earned less and less. As a result some of them have moved into higher-paid agricultural products such as oil palms. The Living Rubber project aims to create better living conditions for the local indigenous community and for smallholder farmers and women especially, by helping make the supply chain for natural rubber socially and environmentally resilient. The main focus of the project is on protecting and conserving native plant and animal species within the 2,700-hectare area covered by Living Rubber. This will help preserve a significant share of the ecosystem in northern Hutan Harapan.

Zielsetzung A Batin Sembilan is cutting the rubber. Hutan Harapan | Saleksa Srengenge

Region und Herausforderungen Sundaic Silvered Langur (Trachypithecus cristatus). Hutan Harapan | Fadlurrahman

Hutan Harapan, or the Forest of Hope, covers about 100,000 hectares and is Sumatra’s last large lowland rainforest on mineral soil. It is home to more than 307 species of birds, 64 species of mammals, 123 species of fish, 55 species of amphibians and 71 species of reptiles and comprises 728 different species of trees. Some of these animal and plant species are not found in any other forest in Indonesia or even the world. Some are very rare and threatened with extinction, such as the Sumatran tiger, Asian elephant, sun bear, black-handed gibbon and hornbill.

Between 1900 and 1997, the natural lowland forests of Sumatra were reduced from 16 million to 2.2 million hectares – just 13.8 percent of their previous area. In the early 2000s, estimates put the area of the natural lowland forest in Central Sumatra serving as commercial forest at about 500,000 hectares. Owing to deforestation for agriculture and infrastructure projects around Hutan Harapan, the pressure to protect this important ecosystem is huge. So, serious efforts and targeted management are essential to preserve and restore the remaining forests in the plains of Sumatra.

Since 2007, the local community, PT Restoration Ecosystem Indonesia (PT REKI, a legal entity of Burung Indonesia), the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), BirdLife International and KfW Development Bank (2019-2026) have been collaborating in the Hutan Harapan project to protect and restore the lowland rainforest. The project is a contribution to the current UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2023. KfW is funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV).

The countless ecosystem functions of the forest are vitally important for the livelihoods of indigenous peoples like the Batin Sembilan. So, gearing agriculture towards sustainability is urgent and existential – as well as fundamental to our ability to meet the global need for food while protecting the environment and securing the livelihoods of rural populations. Sustainable agriculture centres quintessentially on the preservation or optimisation of agricultural practices and productivity, and achieving an ecological balance without endangering food supplies for future generations. It’s a balance that also reflects the interconnectedness of the individual activities in sustainable agriculture.

Betroffene Gemeinden The Batin Sembilan women are going fishing and collecting rattan. Hutan Harapan | Aulia Erlangga

STRATEGIC GOALS FOR DEVELOPMENT SDG.

BAL MITRA GRAM.

Bal Mitra Gram

Project goal
To prevent all forms of child exploitation in mica mining communities by establishing child-friendly villages

Focus: Child labour, abduction and child marriage, corruption

Regions
Jharkhand and Bihar

Country
India

Raw material
Mica

Project leader
Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation (KSCF)

Project partner
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)

Project launch
May 2022

Planned duration
3 years

INTRODUCTION.

The KSCF’s Bal Mitra Gram (“Child-friendly Village”) project presents an internationally recognised model for the child-friendly development of rural areas. It has currently been implemented in 20 villages in the states of Jharkhand and Bihar, the so-called Mica Belt – with the support of the BMW Group. We have also commissioned the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to act as an external consultant to translate the local project outcomes into measurable key indicators. Ongoing activities focus on education, helping parents and children to understand that it is a worthwhile investment in the longer-term future. They also raise children’s awareness of corruption.

Mica

The states of Jharkhand and Bihar have significant deposits of mica. The income opportunities in the region are very limited and seasonal, and artisanal mining is one of the few ways to generate revenues, especially during the dry months of the year.

Many parents have no alternative but to take their children with them to the mining areas. This denies them their right to education and safety – and to a better chance of escaping poverty. Child marriage, malnutrition and other issues are also widespread and directly linked to poverty in villages.

STRATEGIC GOALS FOR DEVELOPMENT SDG.

Responsible raw material management in the supply chain.

At the BMW Group responsible raw material management provides a fundamentally important basis for our multi-stage due diligence and responsibility for the supplier network. 

Bofadeles

Due diligence in the supply chain.

To meet our due diligence for the supply chain, we set binding sustainability standards for our suppliers.

Learn more

This focus group contributes to the following SDGss:

Learn more.

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