Corporations like BMW or VW use mica to make their cars shine. The mineral often comes from dubious sources.
The air sparkles at the entrance to the mine. Microscopic microparticles floating weightlessly. They reflect the sun, which here in the East Indian Tisri for temperatures of more than 40 degrees.
15 meters below, in almost complete darkness, children work alongside their parents and siblings. Teenage boys knock stones out of the wall, then transport the girls and women in wicker baskets to the surface. There, precious mica is separated from worthless rubble. It is a bone job, without any security: The pits are often operated illegally.
A total of 20,000 children are estimated to be working in such mines, of which there are hundreds in the hilly forests on the border between the Indian states of Jharkhand and Bihar. More than a third of the population lives there below the poverty line.
The conditions under which people work here are in absurd contrast to the products for which the raw material is used. The glittering stones, which are laboriously mined in Tisri and elsewhere, lend lip gloss, mascara or nail polish their splendor – and hundreds of thousands of cars.
The mica coating provides a so-called pearlescent effect. It makes the cars shimmer as if someone had dusted them with gold or silver.
That mica often comes from questionable sources is a problem for the auto companies. Because BMW or Volkswagen not only promise that their cars are largely clean and low consumption; The vehicles should also be produced under environmentally friendly and humane conditions. So want to increase “the reputation and the value of the company” in the long term, VW writes in its sustainability report.
The promises of the corporations must now be followed by action. In any case, this increasingly demands not only international organizations such as Amnesty International but also critical shareholders and customers. Because it is clear: The demand for raw materials from regions such as Asia or Africa will increase considerably in the era of electric cars. For the batteries alone, huge amounts of lithium or cobalt are needed.
The problem with glittering mica now shows How hard it is for auto companies to control their complex, global supply chains – while ensuring that everyone involved respects human rights.
VW, BMW and General Motors (GM) purchase car paints from some of the world’s largest paint manufacturers, including US corporations such as Axalta and PPG (advertising slogan: “We protect and beautify the world”). These buy pearlescent pigments – extremely small glimmering particles on a mica basis – from large middlemen who often do not sit in India but, for example, in China.
Anyone who traced the supply chains back to the place of origin repeatedly lands at the small, gloomy mines in Tisri, India or the adjoining areas via a network of local traders. Research by the British newspaper The Guardian also supports the idea that mica often comes from illegal mines in which child labor and bonded labor are widespread.
In 2016, VW, BMW and GM were surprised that the removal of mica was linked to child labor, but announced internal investigations with their suppliers. Meanwhile, the corporations say they have recognized the problem – and taken countermeasures.
Thus, VW has “decided to a temporary suspension of purchasing in certain supply chains”. BMW claims to stop using mica from India – until the local supplier can guarantee that the mineral is mined without child labor. GM only stated that “appropriate arrangements had been made”. Responsibility for working conditions is passed on to suppliers by the US group, which “continued to carry out audits” and “took appropriate steps” to ensure compliance with GM’s zero tolerance policy on child labor.
The problem is that such promises from the outside Hardly to be checked. The automakers still accept only one control instance: themselves. Daimler was not even ready to reveal names of suppliers.
Human rights activists have changed their strategy to break corporate blockade. Instead of confronting, they want to get companies involved. The new organization “Responsible Mica Initiative” aims to abolish child labor in Indian mica mines by 2022. “It’s unacceptable for brands to leave this issue to suppliers alone,” says co-founder Catherine Peyreaud. To make supply chains sustainable, “responsibility must be shared”.
Peyreaud has already had first successes: car body manufacturers such as PPG, Axalta and AkzoNobel have joined the initiative. Also in attendance are the cosmetics companies L’Oréal, Chanel, Estée Lauder and Coty, as well as the German pharmaceutical and chemicals group Merck.
Only one industry has lagged so far: the car industry. BMW and VW merely protest that they welcomed the initiative. Officially only Fiat-Chrysler has joined.
How is mica mined in India? Read the visual story “The Mica Children”