Today, this understanding has prepared us well to pivot in the face of growing environmental concerns.

Figure 1. “I Pledge” event of SK hynix America

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In celebration of this year’s World Environment Day, SK hynix America Inc. held events for all its employees to take part in. The “I Pledge” event let employees share their resolutions and commitments to mark the special occasion, and the “Eco-friendly reminder event” gave employees the chance to use their creativity and design a memorable poster with its slogan.

But this is not the end of it. We’re spotlighting some of the sustainability-minded activities, endeavors and commitments advancing our goals across the world under our 2022 ECO Vision program.

Our Vision for the Future: 2022 ECO Vision

As demand for semiconductors grows alongside the proliferation of the 4th industry, so does scrutiny over our processes and procedures. Semiconductors require a large amount of chemicals and water for production, and if left unregulated, can contribute to pollution and waste. Our challenge as we head into the next decade is therefore two-fold: continue to meet our customers’ demand, while managing and mitigating our environmental impact. This requires active efforts to reduce usage as well as ensure proper disposal of contaminants.

That’s why, as a company, we have created 2022 ECO Vision: a series of strategies and goals to bring us into 2022 that include the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and waste, and the investment in renewable energy and water resource management.

Figure 3. 2022 ECO Vision

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Rather than simply addressing the “after-effects” of semiconductor manufacturing – like how to manage waste or contaminants after use – SK hynix reflected more deeply on the semiconductor manufacturing process itself. We asked ourselves more broadly: how can we reduce this waste from the outset? How can we restructure our processes to better reflect our respect for the environment?

Celebrating Biodiversity

With the focus of this year’s World Environment Day on biodiversity, we would also like to spotlight the impact SK hynix is making in this area specifically. As a semiconductor company, one might not think that our work would touch the world of biodiversity, or the wide range of species that inhabit our land and our rivers. However, our usage of water and other chemicals can have a direct impact on these populations.

As World Environment Day explains, “biodiversity may be seen as an intricate web, in which each part is interdependent. When one component is changed–or removed–the entire system is affected, and this can produce positive–or negative–consequences.”

At SK hynix, we recognize the impact that our manufacturing, production and distribution can have on wildlife populations around the world.

Our integrated wastewater treatment plant, which was established in 2018 to improve the quality of discharged water, has already seen success in the waterway outside of our Icheon production site in South Korea. Our teams observed a wide array of wildlife gathering around the waterway, from egret to spotbill ducks, reminding us of the importance to keep this water source clean and undisturbed.

How 2022 ECO Vision Comes to Life

Our 2022 ECO Vision focuses on several key areas for improvement: reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing waste, investing in renewable energy, and optimizing our water resource management.

Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
We have committed to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 40% as compared to 2016 BAU, and plan to support a series of reduction projects in developing countries. At our Chongqing production site in China, SK hynix has managed greenhouse gas emissions to ensure full compliance with government regulations. In 2018, we installed two additional small-size furnaces, saving 73kNm3¹ of natural gasses and reducing emissions by 158.79 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2eq).

Reducing Waste
By 2022, we have committed to achieving 95% waste recycling across the company. Already in December 2019, SK hynix became the first Korean company to obtain the Zero Waste to Landfill Validation for all four of its production sites, certified by Underwriters Laboratories.

We are committed to minimizing waste production through maximizing the recycling of resources as part of our effort to reduce our environmental impact. It is our vision to turn “waste until resources.”

Investing in Renewable Energy
At our Icheon production site, SK hynix installed two small hydro-generators in 2018 that use the water discharged from the wastewater treatment plant to generate electricity for partial lighting of our wastewater treatment plants. In 2019, we also installed and began operation of solar power modules that is used to power lighting in several areas of the site.

Optimizing Water Resources
With our integrated wastewater treatment plant, we are also striving to improve the quality of discharged water. Since then, we have achieved success by reducing the total amount of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)², total nitrogen (T-N)³, total phosphorus (T-P)⁴ by between 15-40% compared to 2017.

Figure 6. Wastewater treatment plant (independent image from this article)

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As a result, SK hynix was recently recognized for its achievements by CDP Korea, winning the Grand Prize and receiving the highest grade in Water Security program in 2019 CDP Korea Award.

Figure 7. SK hynix winning grand prize for its water security program

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Continuing the Work: ECO Alliance

SK hynix sets its sustainable management strategies to drive social value creation, to strengthen the semiconductor ecosystem through effective supply chain management, and to contribute to solve social issues. And while we have certainly come a long way, we know that there is always more work to be done.

Our hope is that the 2022 ECO Vision initiative will serve as a compass for environmental affairs in the years to come and contribute to real change and impact across our business and the local communities we serve. Our ambition, ultimately, is to reduce our environmental impact and create an eco-friendly workplace.

The next article in this series will feature the ECO Alliance, a partnership between SK hynix and many of our partner companies that establishes and implements mid-to-long term environmental goals to reduce the impact of each company on the environment. Happy World Environment Day from SK hynix!

¹Nm3: a unit of gas emissions or exchange. It stands for normal cubic meter.
²Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD): the amount of oxygen consumed by bacteria and other microorganisms while they decompose organic matter under aerobic (oxygen is present) conditions at a specified temperature.
(https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/biological-oxygen-demand-bod-and-water?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects)
³Total Nitrogen (T-N): the sum of nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N), nitrite-nitrogen (NO2-N), ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N) and organically bonded nitrogen.
(https://www.chemscan.com/total-nitrogen-in-wastewater.html)
⁴Total Phosphorus (T-P): an essential nutrient for plants and animals, but the addition of even a small amount of phosphorus to a water body can have negative consequences for water quality.
(https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-09/documents/totalphosphorus.pdf)

The post [Memory for a Better Life 2] Our ECO Vision at SK hynix first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.

SK hynix is continuing to implement its progressive environmental management agenda through a sustainable management strategy that will contribute to society and facilitate effective solutions for numerous social and environmental problems, as well as achieving financial growth in these areas.

Sustainability at SK hynix

Semiconductor manufacturing plants require a significant amount of energy and water to run every day. One manufacturing plant can use “anywhere between 2 to 4 million gallons of very, very pure water—we call it ultrapure water—per day,” according to IEEE Spectrum’s report Engineers of the New Millennium: The Global Water Challenge Special Report¹. That is “roughly equivalent to the water usage of a city of maybe 40,000-50,000 people.” This is why continuous contribution to environmental conservation is so important for companies in this industry.

People like Technical Leader (TL) Lee Yong-Je at SK hynix’s Environment Team are one of the experts in this area, he emphasizes, “Semiconductors, which are rapidly increasing in demand due to the development of the fourth industry, require a large amount of chemicals and water for production.” He also says, “This requires active efforts to reduce usage as well as ensure proper disposal of contaminants.”

From the establishment of our ‘Green Product Team’ in 2007 to our transition to phthalate-free products in 2015, SK hynix has always been focused on developing environment-friendly products with advanced technological competitiveness. Our commitment is shown on each product with a distinctive mark of a sprout and green wings to represent the rebirth of nature and symbolize SK hynix’s environmental management initiative. This “ECO-mark” conveys our passion to contribute to customers and society with ecological practices, and environmental awareness down to each employee.

Chart 1. SK hynix Green Product History
(For more information, please check out “Eco-Friendly Policy and Product.”)

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In fact, this year, SK hynix became the first Korean company to obtain the “Zero Waste to Landfill Validation” from Underwriters Laboratories (UL) for all of its production sites across the world including Icheon and Cheongju sites in Korea, and Wuxi and Chongqing sites in China.

We continue to make efforts to manufacture eco-friendly products for environmental conservation, aligning with environmental regulation, and developing the product for mass production. And this determination to minimize the secondhand effects that may occur to nature are monitored throughout the entirety of each product’s life cycle – from production to abolition.

SK hynix establishes internal environmental standards greater than what is required by law to not only preserve the earth’s environment, but also to promote the industry to contribute as well to sustainable development. Our low-energy and low-carbon product process is designed for reducing the environmental stress adopted from the beginning of the product development, and therefore only uses those raw materials free from hazardous substances in production. Also, efforts are being made to regulate the additional disposal of hazardous substances by developing a substitute to do the same job even better and safer for the planet.

Looking ahead

As one of the globally leading semiconductor manufacturers, SK hynix is determined on delivering its legacy of highly competitive products while seeking to create both economic and social value.

To achieve this goal, in October 2018, SK hynix announced its “2022 ECO Vision” with both medium and long-term goals to create social value through eco-friendly semiconductor manufacturing plant management globally. SK hynix will continue its endeavor to become a leading company taking part in conserving the environment and resolving ecological problems for the next generation through its pioneering environmental management.

“SK hynix established 2022 ECO Vision by reflecting on the characteristics of manufacturing semiconductor products rather than simply dealing with contaminants and implementing regulations,” stated Lee Yong-Je. “In the future, 2022 ECO Vision will serve as a compass for environmental affairs and contribute to achieving happiness for stakeholders and local communities.”

In this series, we will continue to introduce SK hynix’s eco-friendly activities and define what that looks like through the lens of our company and the semiconductor industry as a whole. Our next article will go more into detail on SK hynix’s internal efforts to be eco-friendly, and will introduce some of our eco-friendly practices that are related to 2022 ECO Vision. Until then, Happy Earth Day from SK hynix!

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¹“Engineers of the New Millennium: The Global Water Challenge Special Report”, Aug 2009, IEEE Spectrum.

The post [Memory for a Better Life] Explore How Semiconductors Create Better Lives for Humankind first appeared on SK hynix Newsroom.