On 24 September 2024, players in the construction equipment industry met for the 6th Rencontres du Matériel Durable (Sustainable Equipment Meeting), the event organised by the Community of Sustainable Equipment Players (Communauté des Acteurs du Matériel Durable – CAMD) and dedicated to accelerating the transition of construction equipment. On this occasion, the 10 member companies of the CAMD presented the work carried out by the 5 working groups launched since the association was set up in April 2024.
For this 1st edition of the Rencontres du Matériel Durable since the creation of the Community of Sustainable Equipment Players (CAMD), the 10 member companies and founders of the CAMD* had the opportunity to present the results of the work carried out within the various working groups set up, and to demonstrate the effectiveness of
the first months of collaboration within this new structure.
Since April 2024, 5 working groups have been set up to look at different ways of accelerating the sector’s transition. These groups are dedicated to :
- The entry into force of the CSRD, which is imminent for certain players in the sector, and for which the CAMD offers a forum for the exchange of good practice, useful for the efficient deployment of the CSRD by the various members of the Community.
- The coordination of decarbonisation trajectories and levers, particularly in the work carried out by the various members with SBTi.
- The supply of energy to construction sites, particularly from electricity or hydrogen sources, is an issue in which the coordination of the entire value chain (manufacturers, intermediaries, end users) plays a decisive role.
- Follow-up to the retrofit project carried out by two CAMD members, Manitou and Kiloutou, on a telescopic forklift demonstrating its “ecological profitability” (in terms of CO2 emissions) after 1,000 hours of electric operation. More generally, the project demonstrates a potential 40% reduction in emissions between the machine with its original internal combustion engine and the retrofitted machine after 2,000 hours of use, over a total life cycle of 10,000 hours.
- A study of the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of a 2.5T excavator, projecting that by 2030 its electric version would have a lower total cost than its internal combustion equivalent. This cost difference of between -14% and -20%** is attributed to the projected fall in the price of batteries, but also to the rise in energy costs, including the particularly sharp rise in the price of Off-road Diesel (ORD)***
Led by representatives of member companies, under the direction of the Community’s Operational Committee, the working groups are based on the pooling of information and efforts, and the carrying out of Community-wide studies and surveys. The work carried out and the detailed results are shared between the members of the CAMD,
which maintains its ambition to bring together even more members and thus increase its knowledge of the issues, its capacity for experimentation and its impact on the transformation of the sector.
In addition to presentations of the initial results of the working groups, the 6th Rencontres du Matériel Durable also gave a platform to Antoine Comte-Bellot, Director of the decarbonisation programme at the French General Secretariat for Ecological Planning (SGPE), who came to present the challenges of decarbonising road and non-road transport, as well as to representatives of the professional federations (DLR, EVOLIS, FFB, FNTP and SEIMAT). The latter shared the progress of their work on the decarbonisation of construction equipment as part of the ‘GT5 Public Works Equipment’ of the government’s roadmap for the decarbonisation of heavy vehicles.
* Bouygues Construction, Colas, Eiffage, Haulotte, JCB, Kiloutou, Manitou Group, NGE, Salti, and Volvo
** -14% if the battery is replaced at half-life // 20% if the battery is not replaced.
** ORD assumption: €2.34/L; Electricity assumption: €0.24/kWh
“It is with great enthusiasm that we have once again come together to continue to collectively build the foundations of a sustainable construction materials industry. The stakes are high: aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050. And it’s together that we’ll get there. Within CAMD, there are no competition, only partners working to make construction sites more virtuous and to help build a more sustainable world. This unique DNA has produced some promising initial results from the working groups. We look forward to meeting again in 2025 to continue our work and share new advances.”
Olivier Colleau, Chairman of the CAMD
“These Sustainable Equipment Meetings, organised for the first time under the aegis of CAMD, are a major milestone for our entire industry. There have been many constructive discussions on a wide range of impactful subjects such as CSRD, energy supply, TCO analysis and retrofitting. This sustainable, cross-disciplinary approach is what we are seeking to strengthen with the CAMD. I’m convinced that we’ll be seeing even more of you, and with new members, at the Rencontres No. 7, which will take place on 27 May 2025.”
Michel Denis, Vice-Chairman of the CAMD
“I am convinced that it is not the sum of increasingly strong ambitions that will enable us to make real progress, but the significant and concerted efforts that as many of us as possible are prepared to make, that will take us forward on a subject as systemic and urgent as the energy transition. Thanks to the mobilisation of a number of players, CAMD has been able to structure itself and finally see the light of day, with the explicit aim of finding and building the practical path to this convergence: that of an ‘action tank’, providing solutions to the problems and obstacles encountered by everyone in the roll-out”.
Patrick N’Kodia, Vice-Chairman of the CAMD
About the Community of Sustainable Equipment (CAMD)
The Community of Sustainable Equipment Players (CAMD) brings together equipment manufacturers, rental companies and construction and public works companies to help them successfully transform into a sustainable industry. The Community aims to pool the efforts, knowledge, best practices and skills of the various players involved, and to raise awareness among both private and institutional stakeholders of the essential role played by site equipment in speeding up the sustainable and responsible transformation of the building and civil engineering sector, and more broadly, of local life.