Earth Day 2023: How are our Manufacturers Investing in the Environment?

April 22 is EarthDay and this year’s theme is “Invest in the Environment”. The semiconductor industry has implemented programs that drive #sustainability and reduce the impact on the environment for over a decade.

To formalize these efforts, the Semiconductor Climate Consortium (SCC) was founded to bring semiconductor companies together and share best practices on how to reduce carbon emissions. Energy reduction is a key area where companies can make an impact. Our manufacturers Sk hynix and Samsung are among the founding members that saw the need for a joint response to global climate change and are collaborating closely on methodologies to achieve sustainability, including manufacturing techniques, water usage, materials selection, and disposal.

But efforts go further still: Samsung has revealed its strategy to achieve zero emissions by 2050 and its water-resource management capabilities have received a series of international certifications, like the International Water Stewardship Standard certification from the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS).

Sk hynix on the other hand has issued the industry’s first sustainability-linked bond. A type of bond for which the interest rates can vary depending on whether the issuer achieves predefined environmental, social, and governance (ESG) management objectives.   

To reduce its carbon footprint, Winbond is proactively lowering temperatures in the soldering process of its flash memory products. It has been able to reduce the surface-mount technology temperatures from 220-260 degrees Celsius to 190 degrees Celsius in the lead-free process.

These are just some of the examples of how the manufacturers in our line card are helping to make our world a little better. As a distributor, we also contribute best as we can to reduce our footprint and strive to become better every year. Happy EarthDay2023!