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Sustainable Excellence at STMicroelectronics:
The role of Environment and beyond
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| STMicroelectronics is a successful company that has blazed a pioneering path to success while adhering to a philosophy of Sustainable Excellence. Our concept of Sustainable Excellence reflects the balance that we believe creates long-term value for all of our stakeholders: our shareholders, people, customers and society as a whole. Building on our 1995 Environmental Decalogue, our action has been focused on multiple approaches, covering our philosophy on issues such as ecology, supply chains and Health & Safety. 1- ENERGY, WATER & CHEMICALS CONSUMPTION IN MANUFACTURING We have consistently reduced our consumption of all materials per wafer out since 1994. Energy consumption, for example, was reduced by 47% between 1994 and 2006, equivalent to -5.3% per year compounded, even better than our Decalogue target of -5% per year. This focus on reducing consumption has allowed ST to save close to $130M in 2006--i.e. if we had maintained the same energy efficiency as in 1994 -in terms of kWh per wafer, we would have spent $130M more on energy. Similar actions on reducing consumption of water and chemicals have delivered savings of $26M and $82M, respectively. ST has found payback on these investments to be usually rapid. For example, in Shenzhen, China, an investment of $175,000 to replace mechanical dryers by adsorption dryers significantly reduced the cost of producing dry compressed air, saving $149,000 per year in electricity costs, representing a payback time of just 14 months. 2- ENERGY SAVINGS DUE TO OUR PRODUCTS For example, in the field of TV amplifiers, changing from Class B to Class D amplifiers saves 1.2W per device. With 60 million devices shipped up to 2006 and assuming average utilization of 2.5h per day, this is equivalent to 8MW saved. A similar calculation for mobile-phone chargers with stand-by feature (300 millions units sold per year, 49,000GWh saved per year, life time of 3 years) leads to 17MW of savings. ST offers many products specifically designed to save energy in the end application. For example, it recently introduced the first high-brightness LED drivers to include auto-power-saving features. In lighting, signage and transport applications this delivers real-world savings of 80% compared to existing solutions. This product was specifically designed to support all worldwide energy-saving programs which encourage power efficiency in lighting applications. Similarly, as one of many examples, if all refrigerators in Europe were using ST technology for power management and thermal control, we would save 1000MW and 5 million tons of CO2 per year. An internal analysis shows that in 2006, ST shipped approximately 250M units of power-saving products, which have saved 140MW (1220GWh) of electricity at the point of use. This represents 50% of ST’s annual energy consumption. 3- GREENHOUSE GASES
4- GREEN PRODUCTS ST’s self-imposed limits are much stricter than the legal requirements. For example, where RoHS allows up to 1000ppm of Mercury, ST allows no more than 5ppm in assembly materials and less than 100ppm in packing materials for the sum of Cadmium + Mercury + Lead + Hexavalent Cromium. Where RoHS allows up to 1000ppm of PBB and PBDE, ST allows no more than 5ppm, which is the practical limit of detection. RoHS -like legislation is likely to spread geographically, starting with China, and ST is already far in advance of expected limits. 5- HEALTH AND SAFETY In terms of Safety at Work, ST has improved its record from 0.93 Recordable Cases per 200,000 hours worked in 2002 to 0.58 in 2006. This is far below the US industry average (6.6 in 2004) and even the US semiconductor industry (1.8 in 2005). One site (Shenzhen) is without a single accident since January 2004. All our sites have been OHSAS certified since 2003 but we recently evaluated over 20,000 workstations where chemicals were being used, in order to eliminate all risks. This effort lasted for about 2 years, and is almost completed: out of 1,400 workstations identified, less than 60 now remain to be upgraded. A new Health Program for employees, launched in 2006, aims to provide the same level of health coverage for all ST employees, wherever they are, based on the best practices worldwide. This health program is based on three main directions: - Individual medical check ups (once/18 months): blood analysis, mammography, pap smear, PSA, colorectal cancer, vaccination; At the end of 2006, this health scheme was organized for most Asia-Pac sites, covering 17,000 people. All ST employees will be covered by the end of 2007. The cost of this program is approximately $3M per year. 6- SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Dedication to the EICC is a significant commitment considering the
number of suppliers and subcontractors that we have, but we are helped
in this process by the fact that: The field of Sustainable Development is a competitive paradox: ST wants to be the industry leader but we also want everyone else, including our competitors, to be as close behind us as possible in protecting the planet! For example, when we develop a new way of reducing our own energy consumption we not only implement it in all appropriate ST sites around the world but we are willing to share the knowledge and even encourage our competitors to use it, even though this makes them inherently more competitive. This represents a new industrial dynamic which we call Responsible Competition. ST is - and intends to remain - the most responsibly competitive semiconductor manufacturer in the world. September 2007 |
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