EHS

SEMICON West in Phoenix, Arizona, will bring together all of the SEMI Sustainability efforts and programs under one roof over three days. With back-to-back sessions from October 7-9, this year’s Sustainability EHS Program will offer expert insights on the most pressing sustainability topics facing the microelectronics industry. Tuesday will kick off the program and focus on the business aspects of driving to sustainability in the semiconductor sector. On Wednesday, the Pavilion hosts discussions on water risk, water management, circular economy solutions and the needs for innovation from startups. Finally, Thursday will highlight the current emissions landscape, milestones and achievements, and solutions developed by the SEMI Semiconductor Climate Consortium (SCC). The 2025 event also marks the first public discussions of the full scope, findings and status of the SCC’s direction.All three days of the Sustainability EHS Program are sponsored by Edwards, Schneider Electric, TEL, SCREEN, Sundt and the Greater Sacramento Economic Council. Here’s a sneak peek at what the 2025 program has to offer. Registration for SEMICON West is open.The Business of Sustainability – Tuesday, October 7 Sustainability Panel: Path to Success Sustainability hits the keynote stage with Tuesday afternoon with a panel discussion detailing a plan for meaningful sustainability progress. The panel, titled Sustainability Panel: Path to Success—The Semiconductor Industry Leads the Way for a Resilient Future, will take place on the CEO Summit Keynote Stage from 2:35-3:35 p.m. Experts from Applied Materials, BASF, Micron, Google, and Qualcomm will cover strategies on how collaboration, supplier engagement, and clean technology investments are reducing emissions and propelling the industry closer to its sustainability goals. Attendees will discover what’s working, what’s still to come, and how the industry will forge its way toward a more sustainable future.A Musical Performance by Ay YoungIn anticipation of the Path to Success panel discussion, Tuesday will also spotlight an exciting musical guest. AY Young is a singer, songwriter, and the founder of the longest-running clean energy concert series in the U.S. At 2:20 p.m., he’ll take to the CEO Summit Keynote Stage for a memorable performance and give a glimpse into how important sustainability has become to attract a new generation of talent. Through his musical talent and deep commitment to clean energy, Young was appointed as a United Nations (UN) Young World Leader in 2020, helping the organization further its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. His Project17 initiative is a 17-song album, with each song centering on a different goal and backed by a corporate sponsor that aligns with it. Young will also attend the Sustainability Reception from 5-6:30 p.m. at the Sustainability Pavilion Theater.EHS Regulatory OverviewThe wide range of regulatory topics will be showcased in the first session on Tuesday at the Sustainability Pavilion. Expert speakers and advocacy groups will deliver key insights on the threats and challenges, and the research and collaboration opportunities currently at play in the regulatory environment, with special focus on keeping electronics manufacturing strong. Climate Equity Social Impact Workgroup (CESI) Aligning with the theme of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the SEMI Climate Equity Social Impact (CESI) Working Group will highlight how its members are progressing real-world outcomes for climate, education, and global cooperation. This session will run from 3-4 p.m. at the Sustainability Pavilion Stage, and it’s ideal for anyone in the industry who’s passionate about sustainable partnerships. Innovations Enabling Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose and Recover – Wednesday, October 8Resource Use and Circular EconomyWednesday’s 10:15-11:30 a.m. session, Resource Use and Circular Economy will offer tactical solutions to help fabs reach up to 80-90% circularity. The goal of this session is to lay a foundation for transforming the industry’s circularity concerns into practical opportunities, which will be achieved over two panel discussions. Discussion 1, A Circular Value Chain: Challenges and Leading-Edge Solutions, will highlight solutions for eliminating waste and reducing manufacturing costs through circular technologies. This panel will feature experts from Edwards, Syensqo, and ElectraMet and will be moderated by Subgeni’s Taimur Burki. These subject matter experts will highlight their company solutions, but also other areas they see in need of consideration from a circularity lens, as well as best known practices across fabs. Water is a precious resource, and how the industry manages it is crucial for its long-term success. Discussion 2, Tactical Maturity Scales for Water Management, will unveil two new guides developed by SEMI’s Water Management Working Group. Both products are designed to move manufacturers from both large and small fabs and manufacturing operations to assess their water needs and most efficiently improve water reuse by up to 80%. This panel will be led by speakers from Aquatech, SCREEN, Sundt, Ovivo, and C2MI. Water Resilience Starting at 11:30 a.m. at the Sustainability Pavilion Stage, attendees will hear from the SEMI Environmental Risk Mitigation and Reporting Working Group lead - Senior Sustainable Program Manager – Alua Suleimenova – as she shares her insights and findings from a recently completed study by WaterPlan on industry water risks within the semiconductor value chain. The topic and findings will then be addressed by a panel, where Suleimenova will engage leaders from ASM, Waterplan, ERM, and the Alliance for Water Stewardship, in a conversation about water, nature, and associated corporate risks. Although companies are making strides to protect water access, it’s becoming clear that a focus on internal activities will not move the needle significantly enough for achieving long-term resilience. This panel will offer solutions for adapting water-related risks to the supply chain, with a focus on North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe.Other Wednesday AttractionsSEMI S3 – Startups for Sustainable Semiconductors: SEMI S3, or Startups for Sustainable Semiconductors, is an annual program by the industry’s venture capital divisions designed to boost awareness of semiconductor industry needs by inviting promising startups to be mentored and pitch their solutions to our industry. Earlier this year, 145 candidates submitted applications. Now, it’s down to 15 finalists, who will present at SEMICON West from 2-4:40 p.m. at the Sustainability Pavilion, following a Fireside Chat from experienced innovation experts from 1-2pm.Accelerating Sustainability with Smart Manufacturing – Presentations Poster Session: Technical papers and posters focused on sustainability solutions – from water to energy – will also be presented in the Smart Manufacturing Pavilion from 2-5:15 p.m., providing an opportunity to network with industry leaders and discover the latest best practices for how machine learning and AI can reduce water and waste in fabs.Reducing Emissions – Thursday, October 9SCC – Tackling Emissions Across the IndustryExpect a full-house at Thursday’s all-day session featuring SCC – Tackling Emissions Across the Industry. From 10:15 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., the SEMI SCC leaders and experts will detail its findings and projects addressing the industry’s emissions. SCC has been focusing on ensuring consistent and measurable progress in decarbonizing from 2021 levels. Key topics include: Reporting and aligningBaseline, ambition, and roadmapAbatementLow Global Warming Potential (GWP) gases workLow Carbon Economy (LCE) access and procurementEnergy efficienciesScope 3 upstreamSEMICON West also features SEMI U courses to learn more about sustainability in our industry. For example, on Thursday, SEMI U: PFAS Compounds in Semiconductor Environment, is being offered from 8 a.m. to noon. This course is available for purchase. Support the SEMI Forest community effort to reforest our planet by funding a range of certified carbon avoidance and tree planting projects. Our goal for SEMICON West is to fund planting for 100,000 trees. Scan the QR code below to contribute and help us meet our goal.Learn more about the 2025 SEMICON West Sustainability EHS Program. Follow SEMI Sustainability on LinkedIn for regular updates on sustainability initiatives. Saifi Usmani is Vice President for Sustainability at SEMI.

Industry growth has consequences.Rapid growth for semiconductor companies has meant increasing amounts of spent materials and chemicals. As expected, these have enlarged environmental impacts, disposal costs, and liability. Semiconductor companies confront challenges that not every sector faces: larger company size, higher value added per unit of production, and higher technological capacity are not always related to lower quantities of waste per unit of production.Collective action is needed to turn this challenge into business resilience. SEMI, imec, and our SEMI Circularity Working Group community are sharpening our cooperation to meet the need.MOVING FROM LINEAR TO CIRCULARSemiconductor value chain companies are making strides to pivot from a linear economy (take, make, waste) to a circular economy (maintain, reuse, refurbish, remanufacture, recycle). Early strategies were anchored primarily to waste management, waste-to-energy, waste diversion, and recycling programs. Lately companies are expanding to novel raw materials strategies, waste repurposing methods, and improvement of remanufacturing through resale at new-product-like performance and quality. This is a real opportunity for companies because using spent chemicals as a feedstock can cut costs, bolster supply chain management, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create opportunities for brands, and bolster social license to operate. Yet most breakthroughs in circular practices are happening in relative isolation across the value chain. Until now, there is no widely recognized system for identifying and ranking materials used in manufacturing to prioritize where conversion from linear to circular use would provide the most gains. A FRAMEWORK FOR PRIORITIZATIONA 2025 report – produced through collaboration between SEMI and imec – presents an inventory of 69 distinct materials prioritized for circularity along with the framework for ranking. It also shares the method to support calibration to fit specific use cases. The outputs will be immediately useful for decision-makers across functions in the semiconductor value chain, including, but not limited to:ProcurementSustainabilityEHS (environment, health, and safety), andRisk management. These professionals now have a cross-industry reference for driving impactful circular initiatives at their firms.Download the reportCATALYZING RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT, VALIDATION, AND ADOPTIONIn conjunction with the publication, SEMI and imec are launching the Circular Semiconductors Research Network, a platform to connect research teams with industry adopters to accelerate validation and deployment of circular technologies and methods. Ideal collaborators can substantiate Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4 or greater and seek industry validation, adoption, and acceleration of circularity solution deployment aimed to purify, reuse, and/or resell spent materials and by-products – either onsite or offsite at a permitted facility under the conditions set out in our invitation.Research teams with relevant subject matter expertise are welcome to submit proposals for research in exploratory phases (lower TRLs) for review by SEMI members. Preference will be given to research teams that address practical hurdles faced by semiconductor value chain companies as they navigate regulatory frameworks for onsite vs. offsite treatments.The call for collaboration seeks to amplify research and development of technologies that comply with applicable regulations and meet one of the following conditions: (1) the owner/operator does not need to obtain a waste permit, or (2) the technology needs to be put offsite at a permitted waste facility. View the Invitation – Applications due May 30, 2025THE BIGGER PICTUREThe publication and launch of the Circular Semiconductors Research Network is a response to growing attention from business leaders and policymakers on critical materials in semiconductor manufacturing. Supply chain security for these materials has become a strategic issue for governments and the private sector, not only because it could affect the pace of the energy transition but also because materials sourcing has become contested among geopolitical rivalries and alliances. The network will provide momentum for industry and research to prioritize the development and adoption of circular methods for materials that would generate the most strategic, economic, and environmental gain in the semiconductor value chain. It will do so in dialogue with the SEMI Circularity Working Group, a venue for collective action among SEMI members that works closely with other trade association initiatives such as the SEMI Supply Chain Management Initiative, which is focused on resilience, agility, and responsibility, and the SEMI Accelerating Sustainability with Smart Manufacturing Task Force, which develops an industry technology roadmap. For more information, write to the Circular Semiconductors Research Network at [email protected]. SEMI members are invited to join the Circularity Working Group meeting monthly. If interested, contact Jordan Famularo at [email protected]. Jordan Famularo, PhD, is Program Manager – Sustainability at SEMI.