mica

Mica.

Areas of application automotive industry.

  • Main areas of application: car paintwork, high-voltage batteries (housing), body (droning insulation)
  • Minute quantities: reinforcement films, insulating mats, mica seals, vehicle electronics (insulation), surface coating

Raw-material-specific risks.

  • Human rights abuses in artisanal mining
  • Child labour 
  • Violation of labour rights
  • Corruption
  • Trade with material from illegal mines

Measures taken by the BMW Group.

  • Comprehensive risk assessment carried out and critical mining countries and regions identified for the above risks – for example, India and Madagascar.
  • Supply chain transparency through targeted analyses and surveys of direct suppliers of products with high mica content, such as paint, high-voltage batteries, body (droning insulation), sprayable insulating mats, mica seals.
  • Enabling of direct suppliers in the tendering process, with an active request for them to join the Responsible Mica Initiative and/or Responsible Minerals Initiative.
  • Identification of suppliers processing raw materials (mica processors); obtain certification and plan audits as required by the Global Workplace Responsible Sourcing, Environmental, Health & Safety, Due Diligence Standard for Mica Processors of the Responsible Mica Initiative and Responsible Minerals Initiative.
  • On-site project with Indian Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation (KSCF) to support social projects and to improve living conditions in mining regions. With its “Bal Mitra Gram” (“child-friendly village”) initiative, the KSCF has created an internationally recognised model for child-friendly rural development. The BMW Group is helping the KSCF implement this model in 20 villages in the states of Jharkhand and Bihar, known as the mica belt. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) has been commissioned by BMW Group as an external consultant to transfer the local project results into measurable key performance indicators. This ensures that the activities and results of the on-site project are in line with BMW Group’s due diligence standards, international conventions as well as the regulations of the German Supply Chain Act.

Initiatives.