With the cross-border MC0 project, many Italian and French SMEs in the mechatronics sector have embarked on decarbonisation.
The decarbonisation of industry represents one of the most complex challenges of the European ecological transition. While the European Union aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, it is also called upon to preserve the competitiveness of its businesses, which must reduce emissions and consumption without compromising production, employment and strategic autonomy.
Industrial innovation will therefore play a decisive role. This is demonstrated by the first report published by the European Centre for Innovation in Industrial Transformation and Emissions (Incite), which has catalogued 563 demonstration projects dedicated to the decarbonisation of energy-intensive industries. As many as 71 per cent of these initiatives were launched with the primary objective of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while around 40 per cent involve technologies that are already mature or close to commercialisation. A sign that, at least in many cases, the problem is no longer the absence of technological solutions, but their large-scale deployment.
In this context, mechatronics is also called upon to play its part. The term refers to the integration of mechanics, electronics and computer science in the design and production of advanced systems and devices: a cross-cutting sector encompassing industrial machinery, robotics, automation and intelligent components, which underpins many European manufacturing supply chains. Reducing the emissions of this sector does not, however, simply mean improving the energy efficiency of plants. A significant portion of companies' climate footprint is concentrated along the supply chain, from the procurement of raw materials to transportation, through to the use of products by customers. It is precisely this challenge that Mission Carb0 (MC0) addresses — the project funded by the Interreg France-Italia Alcotra programme that guides small and medium-sized enterprises through a structured decarbonisation journey.
Alcotra, an acronym for Alpi Latine Cooperazione Transfrontaliera, is the European programme that promotes collaboration between Italy and France to jointly address the main environmental, economic and social challenges facing Alpine territories. Mission Carb0 was born within this programme: a three-year project involving companies from four strategic supply chains: agri-food, mechatronics, aromas and perfumes, and mountain services.
The objective was to provide companies with concrete tools to understand their climate impact and plan effective emissions-reduction measures. To this end, L.I.S.E. – Limita i tuoi impatti e supervisiona le tue emissioni was developed — a platform that enables businesses to calculate their carbon footprint according to international standards, analysing both direct emissions and indirect ones generated throughout the entire supply chain. Today, this tool is available to all SMEs in the four sectors that were involved.
Thanks to L.I.S.E., the companies that participated in the project were able to build a picture of their starting point and identify the areas on which to act in order to improve their environmental performance.
The analysis carried out within MC0 highlighted a particularly significant finding: even in the mechatronics sector, approximately 80 per cent of the carbon footprint of the companies analysed stems from Scope 3 emissions — that is, indirect emissions generated outside the company's boundaries but closely linked to its activities. The largest share relates to the procurement of materials and components, which accounts on average for 69 per cent of total emissions. This is followed by business travel, freight transport, the use of sold products and waste management. A result that confirms how the decarbonisation challenge cannot be tackled by looking exclusively at the energy consumption of manufacturing plants. What weighs most heavily are raw materials, semi-finished goods, logistics and, more broadly, the entire supply chain.
Among the indications to emerge from the project is also the need to rethink material use. In the sheet metal processing sector, for example, offcuts can account for between 15 and 20 per cent of the material used. Reducing them means not only limiting waste, but also decreasing the embedded emissions in raw materials and improving the overall efficiency of production processes. Alongside this, Mission Carb0 recommends optimising logistics, encouraging the use of lower-carbon-footprint materials, and more actively involving suppliers and partners in the collection and sharing of environmental data.
The experience gained through MC0 delivers a clear message: decarbonising the mechatronics sector does not depend solely on technological innovation, but also on a better understanding of the supply chain. A path that requires collaboration between companies, suppliers and stakeholders, but one that can transform sustainability from a mere regulatory obligation into a driver of competitiveness and innovation for the entire sector.
The companies in the mechatronics sector that participated:
PROVINCE OF CUNEO
PROVINCE OF TURIN
DÉPARTEMENT SAVOIE
DÉPARTEMENT PACA
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