04/26/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 04/26/2024 11:09
By Candice Callahan
Principal Member of the Technical Staff for Corporate Environmental, Health, and Safety and Sustainability, GlobalFoundries
Even as our second annual Earth Week celebration draws to a close, GlobalFoundries remains laser-focused on identifying and implementing new ways of reducing resource use and finding efficiencies in our day-to-day operations as we manufacture the essential semiconductors the world needs. For us, every day is Earth Day.
In this article, I would like to share how GF is making a difference in the key areas of water use, hazardous waste management and chemical usage.
Click here to read my colleague John Compani's article that covered our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and electricity use. Also click here to read about GF's new long-term goals to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions and 100% carbon-neutral power by 2050.
Water Use
Semiconductor manufacturing requires significant amounts of water, and GF has been making strategic investments that reduce consumption and promote the recycling and reuse of water at our facilities.
These programs are working. In 2023, 39% of GF's total water use was covered by recycled and reused water. Last year our teams around the world implemented projects that are on track to help us achieve an annual savings of more than 341,000 m³ (90 million gallons) of water - about the water used by more than 800 average U.S. households in one year1.
At the end of the day, our normalized water use2 in 2023 represented a reduction of 19% from 2020. Below are a few examples of our successful projects:
Hazardous Waste Management and Chemical Usage
GF has rigorous chemical review and pollution prevention programs across all of our worldwide manufacturing sites. Our goal is to identify opportunities to reduce or eliminate chemical use and waste generation, whether through process innovation, finding new efficiencies, or novel ways of reusing or recycling materials.
In 2023, across our global sites, GF completed a range of projects resulting in the combined reduction of more than 4,600 metric tons of hazardous waste and chemical use. Together, these projects represent $4.5 million in annual savings for GF.
Examples of these projects include:
Thank you for taking the time to read and learn more about GF's commitment to improving our resource conservation efforts, sustainable operations, and minimizing our impact on the environment. Click here for additional information.
Candice Callahan is a Principal Member of the Technical Staff with GF's Corporate EHS & Sustainability Team. She is based in Essex Junction, Vermont, with a focus on GF's Environmental Performance, Resource Conservation and Sustainability efforts.
1 Using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's estimate that the average U.S. family uses 300 gallons of water per day [link]
2 Normalized water use is how we measure efficiency for how much water it takes to manufacture our products.