Value creation across the supply chain & management of related issues

We define our Corporate Responsibility (CR) issues as those specific topics that have the potential to affect us, or our stakeholders, in our ability to create value. These are areas that require a special effort that exceeds any ‘business-as-usual’ approach.

Click here to discover our supply chain and activity.

• Local communities: ST operates in both industrialized and emerging economies, creating employment and value for the local communities through relationships with stakeholders and community involvement programs
• Lobbying: at the corporate level, we interact with governments on key issues, e.g. environment and R&D, and our sites work with local authorities to support public policy.

• Corporate Governance and business ethics: principles for Sustainable Excellence and Business Conduct and Ethics Policy are part of the governance structure in place to ensure that the activities of all ST sites are in line with the company’s values
• Research & Development: our R&D activities often involve partnerships with national public laboratories, universities, customers, suppliers and even competitors
• Product and process quality: ST is fully certified to the ISO TS 16949 standard & Total Quality is an integral aspect of our company mind-set and culture for Sustainable Excellence.

• Water use: manufacturing semiconductors involves the use of ultra clean water. We are reducing usage through process optimization and recycling, to achieve our Decalogue target
• Energy use and climate change: we have an ambitious carbon strategy: becoming carbon neutral by 2010 by reducing. This involves reducing energy consumption, increasing the use of renewable and alternative sources of energy and offsetting remaining emissions through carbon sequestration (reforestation)
• Production waste: our activity generates waste in the form of sludge, chemical substances, rejected wafers and plastics, most of which is reused, recycled, or burned with energy valorization
• Chemical management: our rigorous EHS management systems are certified to international standards and set more stringent targets for reducing risks relating to chemicals than any local legislation
• Air/water pollution: our measurement and management of emissions to air and water using the environmental burden method and our eco-footprints ensure that we keep tight control of pollution. These efforts are reinforced by a constant investment in abatement systems and internal waste water treatment plants.

• Market segments and applications: ST’s sales are well balanced between the industry’s five major high-growth sectors: Communications, Consumer, Computer, Automotive and Industrial
• Products in use: most of a product’s environmental impact is a result of its use, mainly energy consumption, which is much greater over the course of a product’s life than the energy required to produce it. Design for low-energy consumption has been part of our approach to environmental management for many years.

• Human Rights and labor issues: we are committed to respecting Human Rights. We want our presence in all countries in wihich we operate to make a positive contribution to their social and economic development
• Equal opportunities and diversity: our aim is that our workforce should reflect the diversity of the society in which we work and in the case of gender, the relevant local student population
• Responsible restructuring: in response to market dynamics and challenging economic circumstances we may resort to workforce redeployment or reduction, but we do so responsibly, always striving to provide security for our employees
• Employability and employee satisfaction: we have always been committed to the satisfaction and well-being of our employees. We have many processes and tools in place to measure and improve continuously in this area.

• Supply chain management: managing our supply chain responsibly is a complex challenge. We work within our sphere of influence in collaboration with the ICT industry to progressively make improvements and spread the culture of sustainability.