"Carmakers and big tech struggle to keep batteries free from child labor"

Car and tech companies are scrambling for supplies of cobalt, a mineral they need to power electric vehicles and smartphones. But they have a problem: Much of the cobalt used in lithium-ion batteries comes from a country where children work in mines. A CNN investigation has found that child labor is still being used to mine the valuable mineral at some operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This country produces about two-thirds of the world's cobalt and is estimated to sit atop half of the globe's reserves.Glencore said it does not process or buy any materials from these informal mines, which are often small-scale operations in local communities.

But, as CNN found, it isn't easy for companies to avoid using cobalt from these smaller mines. Dealers at markets in the DRC were filmed buying cobalt without verifying its source and mining method. They then send it for processing where it is mixed with cobalt from other mines before ending up in batteries that power devices around the world.

 BMW (BMWYY), Volkswagen (VLKAY) and Mercedes owner Daimler (DMLRY) acknowledged how difficult it is to verify the source. BMW said it makes "every effort to ensure the highest possible standards in the labor practices of our suppliers" but admitted it could do more. Now, it's considering buying the prized mineral directly from miners to avoid operations that exploit children. "A further step could be to purchase directly from miners, which is an option we are looking into," BMW told CNN.