Verkor, a European pioneer in electric vehicle batteries, has taken another important step in its development by leveraging the expertise of two leading companies, OPTEL and Bureau Veritas. The collaboration, a first for the sector, will guarantee full traceability of Verkor’s batteries and bring greater transparency and sustainability to its entire supply chain.

Building on its fundamental goal of sustainability, Verkor chooses V-TRACE, a verified traceability solution co-developed by OPTEL and Bureau Veritas – a world leader in testing, inspection and certification. Thanks to transparent assessments by independent, impartial and expert auditors, Verkor will gain better visibility and control over its supply chain.

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Consolidating supply chain traceability amid the move toward electrification

This approach is in line with the general acceleration of the transition in the automotive industry and ecosystem. The rapid expansion of Electric Vehicle (EV) manufacturing has increased demand for the strategic materials needed to make batteries, including lithium, nickel and cobalt.

Determined to make the supply of such materials traceable and sustainable, Verkor, OPTEL and Bureau Veritas joined forces. This innovation will enable Verkor to manage, track and inspect its supply chain through V-TRACE.

OPTEL’s platform acts as control tower. Granular data is captured along the supply chain and connected, providing visibility and transparency. OPTEL’s carbon footprint solution will help Verkor track both direct and indirect emissions from its supply chain. 

Bureau Veritas’ auditors will perform on-site audits, verifying the data collected along the chain. This will ensure a project’s sustainability according to health and safety, environment and biodiversity, and social and human rights criteria. With V-TRACE, Verkor will improve the sustainability of its supply chain and reduce risks from source to end product.

Benoit LEMAIGNAN, Co-founder and CEO of Verkor, says: “This new initiative is perfectly aligned with our mission to power the way forward in the responsible energy transition by producing sustainable batteries. Our collaboration with OPTEL and Bureau Veritas is a real success; it puts us ahead of legislation and gives us a complete identity card for our batteries”

Louis ROY, Founder and President at OPTEL explains: “OPTEL’s promise has always been to develop ahead-of-the-curve traceability technologies to help businesses in different sectors create a better tomorrow. This partnership is a testament to OPTEL’s commitment to helping EV battery supply chains become more resilient and sustainable. V-TRACE for EV batteries will provide unprecedented traceability assurance at a time when stakeholders across the EV sector are demanding greater accountability and compliance with ESG targets. We are thrilled to work with pioneers like Verkor and Bureau Veritas to make this happen.”

Renato CATRIB, Senior Vice-President of Industries & Facilities Global Services Lines at Bureau Veritas, states: “At Bureau Veritas, as a Business to Business to Society company, we believe that trust depends on demonstrating responsible progress. We are delighted to support Verkor in its sustainability journey with our traceability solution, V-TRACE. By helping them develop a more resilient and sustainable supply chain, we are contributing to shaping better supplier ecosystems based on transparency and trust. Alongside our partner, OPTEL, we have developed a global solution that covers our clients’ supply chains from a sustainability and traceability perspective in one unified platform. We are able to successfully conduct this international project with Verkor thanks to our solid expertise, organization and global footprint.”

Source: Verkor