March 18, 2014. SEMI today presented its Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) leadership award to Dr. Tzu-Yin (TY) Chiu, CEO of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC). Chiu received the “SEMI Outstanding EHS Achievement Award—Inspired by Akira Inoue” at the Industry Gala during SEMICON China 2014, the largest annual microelectronics manufacturing trade event in China.
“SEMI is pleased to present this award to Dr. Chiu for his outstanding leadership and commitment to EHS issues,” said Denny McGuirk, president and CEO of SEMI. “Dr. Chiu’s award recognizes his status among a distinguished group of semiconductor executives who have been honored for significant EHS achievement. As chief executive of the largest and most advanced foundry in mainland China, his leadership is a vital example for the region’s burgeoning semiconductor manufacturing activity. ”
“We must always conduct ourselves with future generations in mind,” Dr. Chiu said. “We absolutely do not compromise environment and safety in search of profit.”
These principles have been evident throughout Chiu’s 30-year career. As SMIC’s senior vice president in the five years after its founding, he helped embed these principles into SMIC’s corporate operations. When he returned to SMIC as CEO in 2011, Chiu bolstered the programs he helped to launch while strengthening the company’s commitment to sustainability, social responsibility, and corporate citizenship.
Chiu’s leadership has resulted in significant EHS achievements at SMIC that the award committee cited:
- Occupational Safety and Health—In the past three years, SMIC has reduced its recordable occupational injury rate to just 0.01 per 100 employees. Viewing even a single injury as too many, Chiu has set an incident and injury goal of zero.
- Green Manufacturing—SMIC minimizes its environmental impact by using resources efficiently, reducing pollution substantially, disposing of hazardous materials responsibly, and upgrading facilities regularly. SMIC considers the entire manufacturing cycle in reducing its impact. As a result, in 2011 SMIC’s Shanghai site reduced PFC and CO2 emissions by 44%, water consumption by 21%, and electricity by 20%. In addition, all future SMIC fab construction must follow the LEED certification process to ensure best known practices are incorporated into fab design.
- Climate Change—In 2010, SMIC became the first semiconductor company in China to receive the ISO 14064 Greenhouse Gas Measurement certification. SMIC’s climate change response strategy involves risk mitigation, pollution prevention, supply chain management, and energy saving activities. Following the World Semiconductor Council's national emission reduction targets, the China Semiconductor Industry Association (CSIA) committed in 2011 to reduce PFC emissions by 30% (per unit area of each chip produced) by 2020. Since Chiu became CEO in 2011, the implementation of eleven SMIC energy-savings projects have saved energy equal to 3,551 tons of coal per year, and the installation of 65 sets of thermo-wet local scrubbers have reduced SMIC’s PFC emissions by 44,473 tons of CO2 per year.
- Energy/Electricity Conservation—SMIC’s conservation efforts yield significant energy savings and carbon reductions. Proper equipment maintenance, regular facility upgrades, and thoughtful use of resources enable SMIC to meet its energy consumption goals. In 2012, SMIC’s Beijing site reduced facility lighting to save 1,750,000 kilowatts of electricity and decrease coal consumption by 707 tons. Also in 2012, a new transformer shutdown program at SMIC’s Tianjin site saved 722,700 kilowatts of electricity.
- Water Conservation—Water management is critical to SMIC's manufacturing processes. Each SMIC site continually upgrades its systems to minimize water consumption and cut waste. SMIC also maximizes the use of industrial water sources, easing demand on community water supplies. SMIC has sophisticated programs for rainwater reclamation and water purification and recycling.
- Pollution Prevention—SMIC is the first foundry in mainland China to receive the GPMS Hazardous Substance Management certificate and has maintained the QC-080000 certification at all its fabs ever since. In 2012, SMIC added four equipment systems at its Shanghai site to reduce the production of phosphoric acid. These systems reduced phosphoric acid emissions by 8.6 tons, limiting eutrophication and related impacts on the surrounding water environment.
The “Outstanding EHS Achievement Award—Inspired by Akira Inoue” is sponsored by SEMI (www.semi.org). The award is named after the late Akira Inoue, past president of Tokyo Electron Limited and a strong advocate of EHS. Inoue also served on the SEMI Board of Directors. The award recognizes individuals in industry and academia who have made significant contributions by exercising leadership or demonstrating innovation in the development of processes, products or materials that reduce EHS impacts during semiconductor manufacturing. Past Award recipients include Ajit Manocha (CEO, GLOBALFOUNDRIES), Dr. Morris Chang (chairman and CEO, TSMC), Dr. Jong-Kap Kim (chairman and CEO, Hynix Semiconductor), Atsutoshi Nishida (president and CEO, Toshiba), and other prominent industry leaders.