Mercedes-Benz is cooperating with the British block-chain start-up Circulor to make cobalt extraction and delivery routes more climate-friendly. Blockchain technology plays a decisive role here.

As part of its “Ambition 2029”, the Stuttgart-based carmaker Mercedes-Benz aims to create a CO2-neutral new car fleet by 2039. Production and supply chains are to be made more sustainable. Circulor is to help the Group achieve these goals. The cooperation between the two companies will initially focus on the supply chain for the rare earth cobalt. Cobalt is mainly used for the production of car batteries.

The cooperation focuses on cobalt that comes from recycling plants. A block-chain-based network is to record the CO2 balance of the recycled cobalt in a tamper-proof manner.

This cooperation is the latest, but not the first, infringement by a car manufacturer to use block-chain technology for more sustainable cobalt.